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1980 West German federal election

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Field	Value
election_name	1980 West German federal election
country	West Germany
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1976 West German federal election
previous_year	1976
election_date
next_election	1983 West German federal election
next_year	1983
outgoing_members	List of members of the 8th Bundestag
elected_members	List of members of the 9th Bundestag
seats_for_election	All 497 seats in the Bundestag
majority_seats	249
registered	43,231,741 2.8%
turnout	38,292,176 (88.6%) 2.1 pp
image1
candidate1	Franz-Josef Strauss
party1	CDU/CSU
last_election1	48.6%, 243 seats
seats1	226
seat_change1	17
popular_vote1	16,897,659
percentage1	44.5%
swing1	4.1 pp
image2
candidate2	Helmut Schmidt
party2	Social Democratic Party of Germany
last_election2	42.6%, 214 seats
seats2	218
seat_change2	4
popular_vote2	16,260,677
percentage2	42.9%
swing2	0.3 pp
image3
candidate3	Hans-Dietrich Genscher
party3	Free Democratic Party (Germany)
last_election3	7.9%, 39 seats
seats3	53
seat_change3	14
popular_vote3	4,030,999
percentage3	10.6%
swing3	2.7 pp
map_image	1980 West German federal election.svg
map_size	400px
map_caption	The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
title	Government
before_election	Second Schmidt cabinet
before_party	SPD–FDP
posttitle	Government after election
after_election	Third Schmidt cabinet
after_party	SPD–FDP

A federal election was held in West Germany on 5 October 1980 to elect the members of the 9th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU remained the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

Issues and campaign

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of the SPD-FDP coalition wanted to be re-elected. The CDU/CSU candidate for Chancellor was 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.

Results

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

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total
seats	Seats won	SPD	CDU	CSU	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"	Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"	Baden-Württemberg	37	Bavaria	45	Bremen	3	Hamburg	7	Hesse	22	Lower Saxony	31	North Rhine-Westphalia	71	Rhineland-Palatinate	16	Saarland	5	Schleswig-Holstein	11	Total	248	127	81	40
6	31
5		40
3
7
19	3
23	8
44	27
6	10
3	2
11

List seats

State	Total
seats	Seats won	CDU	SPD	FDP	CSU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"	Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"	Baden-Württemberg	35	Bavaria	44	Bremen	1	Hamburg	6	Hesse	24	Lower Saxony	32	North Rhine-Westphalia	76	Rhineland-Palatinate	16	Saarland	3	Schleswig-Holstein	12	Total	249	93	91	53	12
5	21	9
	25	7	12
1
4		2
16	3	5
18	7	7
33	26	17
5	8	3
2	1
9		3

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.

Notes

References

Sources

References

Bjøl, Erling. (1984). "History of the Nations". WSOY.
Bjøl, Erling. (1984). "History of the Nations". WSOY.
(1989). "A history of West Germany". Blackwell.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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federal-elections-in-germany 1980-elections-in-germany helmut-schmidt october-1980-in-europe 1980-in-west-germany

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