1980 West German federal election

German federal election, 1980

5 October 1980 (1980-10-05)
All 519 seats in the Bundestag 260 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	88.6% (voting eligible)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Franz-Josef Strauss Helmut Schmidt Hans-Dietrich Genscher Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Leader since 1961 (CSU only) – (chancellor since 1974) 1974 Last election 254 seats 224 seats 40 Seats won 237 228 54 Seat change 17 4 14 Popular vote 16,897,659 16,260,677 4,030,999 Percentage 44.5% 42.9% 10.6% Swing 4.1% 0.3% 2.7%
Party list election results by state: red denotes states where the SPD had the absolute majority of the votes; pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes; darker blue denotes states where CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; and lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes
Chancellor before election Helmut Schmidt SPD Elected Chancellor Helmut Schmidt SPD

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 5 October 1980, to elect members to the Bundestag (parliament) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Issues and campaign

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of the SPD-FDP coalition wanted to be re-elected. CDU/CSU tried to make their candidate the elected Chancellor, CSU leader Franz Josef Strauß. It was the first time that their candidate was from the CSU. Strauß, immensely popular in Bavaria, found it difficult to appeal to people in other parts of Germany. One important reason for Strauss's unpopularity compared to Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, was his tendency to talk sharply and militantly about his political opponents. Schmidt, by contrast, was still seen by many West German voters as a moderate and practical manager and doer, who focused on getting concrete political and economic results more than on political rhetoric (see, for example, Erling Bjöl, Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 22: From Peace to the Cold War, Helsinki: WSOY, 1984, pages 495, 497–499; Bjöl, Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 23: The Rich West, Helsinki: WSOY, 1985, pages 353–356; Dennis L. Bark and David R. Gress, A History of West Germany: Volume 2: Democracy and Its Discontents, 1963–1988, "The Era of Macher [Doer]," London, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1989).

Results

↓

228	54	237
SPD	FDP	CDU/CSU

Popular Vote CDU/CSU   44.54% SPD   42.86% F.D.P.   10.62% GRÜNE   1.50% Other   0.47%

Bundestag seats CDU/CSU   45.47% SPD   43.86% F.D.P.   10.66%

Seat results – SPD in red, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Post-election

The coalition between the SPD and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor. In 1982, the FDP quit the government, which led to the government's collapse and replacement with a new CDU/CSU – FDP coalition under Helmut Kohl.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos