1987 Hessian state election

1987 Hessian state election

5 April 1987
All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	3,346,992 (80.3% 3.2pp)
First party Second party   Candidate Walter Wallmann Hans Krollmann Party CDU SPD Last election 44 seats, 39.4% 51 seats, 46.2% Seats won 47 44 Seat change 3 7 Popular vote 1,395,411 1,331,760 Percentage 42.1% 40.2% Swing 2.7pp 6.0pp   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Iris Blaul & Joschka Fischer Wolfgang Gerhardt Party Greens FDP Last election 7 seats, 5.9% 8 seats, 7.6% Seats won 10 9 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 311,395 259,133 Percentage 9.4% 7.8% Swing 3.5pp 0.2pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election Third Börner cabinet SPD–Green Government after election Wallmann cabinet CDU–FDP

The 1987 Hessian state election was held on 5 April 1987 to elect the 12th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by outgoing Minister-President Holger Börner, who retired at the election. The SPD campaign was led by finance minister Hans Krollmann, who ran to succeed him.

The government was defeated, with gains for the Greens offset by a significant swing against the SPD. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) became the largest party with 42% of votes and formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), ending 40 years of SPD rule in the state. CDU leader Walter Wallmann was elected Minister-President by the Landtag.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

Main article: 1983 Hessian state election

The previous election, held on 25 September 1983, was a snap election called after the Landtag elected in 1982 failed to form a government. The result was a strong victory for the SPD, who overtook the CDU as the largest party. The FDP also returned to the Landtag after losing their seats for the first time. The Greens, whose position as kingmaker caused the deadlock and fresh elections, retained their seats. Though the arithmetic was no better than in 1982, the SPD this time agreed to form a minority government with external support from the Greens. Holger Börner took office in June 1984. In October the following year, the SPD and Greens agreed to form a coalition government, marking the first involvement of the Greens in government in Germany. The coalition collapsed a little less than eighteen months later in February 1987 due to disputes over nuclear energy, leading to the election being called ahead of schedule in April.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 11th Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1983 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Hans Krollmann	46.2%	51 / 110
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Walter Wallmann	39.4%	44 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Wolfgang Gerhardt	7.6%	8 / 110
	GRÜNE	The Greens Die Grünen	Green politics	Iris Blaul & Joschka Fischer	5.9%	7 / 110

Election result

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+/-
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,395,441	42.12	2.72	29	18	47	3
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1,331,760	40.20	6.03	26	18	44	7
	The Greens (GRÜNE)	311,395	9.40	3.46	0	10	10	3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	259,133	7.82	0.21	0	9	9	1
	German Communist Party (DKP)	9,168	0.28	0.02	0	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	4,627	0.14	New	0	0	0	New
	Feminist Party of Germany (FRAUEN)	1,004	0.03	New	0	0	0	New
	UngüLtiG	244	0.01	New	0	0	0	New
	The Colourful (BUNTE)	190	0.01	New	0	0	0	New
	The Responsible Citizens	129	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
	Eco	123	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
Total		3,313,184	100.00		55	55	110	0
Invalid		33,808	1.01
Turnout		3,346,992	80.30	3.23
Registered voters		4,167,871

External links

• "Final Results for the Landtag election of 5 April 1987" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 16 April 1987. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
• "Elections to the Hessian Landtag, April 5, 1987". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2023.