1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

4 May 1975
All 200 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	10,358,108 (86.1% 12.6pp)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Heinrich Köppler Heinz Kühn Horst-Ludwig Riemer Party CDU SPD FDP Last election 95 seats, 46.3% 94 seats, 46.1% 11 seats, 5.5% Seats won 95 91 14 Seat change 0 3 3 Popular vote 4,828,554 4,630,995 689,623 Percentage 47.1% 45.1% 6.7% Swing 0.8pp 1.0pp 1.2pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election Second Kühn cabinet SPD–FDP Government after election Third Kühn cabinet SPD–FDP

The 1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 4 May 1975 to elect the 8th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Heinz Kühn.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained the largest party and improved its lead over the SPD, but failed to win an overall majority. The incumbent coalition retained the 105-seat majority it had won at the previous election, with a net shift of three seats from the SPD to the FDP. Turnout increased dramatically to 86.1%, the highest ever recorded in the state. The SPD–FDP coalition was renewed and Heinz Kühn was re-elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 4 June.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 150 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty 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: 1970 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

In the previous election held on 14 June 1970, the CDU returned as the largest party with a narrow one-seat lead over the SPD. The SPD and FDP both suffered losses, but retained a small majority. The governing coalition between the two was subsequently renewed.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 7th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1970 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Heinrich Köppler	46.3%	95 / 200
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Heinz Kühn	46.1%	94 / 200
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Willi Weyer	5.5%	11 / 200

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+/–
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	4,828,554	47.05	+0.72	76	19	95	±0
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	4,630,995	45.13	–0.93	74	17	91	–3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	689,623	6.72	+1.21	0	14	14	+3
	German Communist Party (DKP)	54,777	0.53	–0.36	0	0	0	±0
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	36,281	0.35	–0.73	0	0	0	±0
	Centre Party (ZENTRUM)	10,487	0.10	–0.01	0	0	0	±0
	Communist Party of Germany (AO)	7,711	0.08	New	0	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Germany/M–L	1,731	0.02	New	0	0	0	New
	Independent Workers' Party (UAP)	648	0.01	–0.01	0	0	0	±0
	European Labour Party (EAP)	311	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
	Independents	1,087	0.01	New	0	–	0	New
Total		10,262,205	100.00	–	150	50	200	±0
Valid votes		10,262,205	99.07
Invalid/blank votes		95,903	0.93
Total votes		10,358,108	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		12,035,289	86.06
Source: [1] [2]

External links

• "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.