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1987 West German federal election

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1987 West German federal election

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FieldValue
countryWest Germany
typeparliamentary
previous_election1983 West German federal election
previous_year1983
election_date
next_election1990 German federal election
next_year1990
(reunification)
outgoing_membersList of members of the 10th Bundestag
elected_membersList of members of the 11th Bundestag
seats_for_electionAll 497 seats in the Bundestag
majority_seats249
registered45,327,982 2.8%
turnout38,225,294 (84.3%) 4.8 pp
image1
candidate1Helmut Kohl
party1CDU/CSU
last_election148.8%, 244 seats
seats1**223**
seat_change121
popular_vote1**16,761,572**
percentage1**44.3%**
swing14.5 pp
image2
candidate2Johannes Rau
party2Social Democratic Party of Germany
last_election238.2%, 193 seats
seats2186
seat_change27
popular_vote214,025,763
percentage237.0%
swing21.2 pp
image4
candidate4Martin Bangemann
party4Free Democratic Party (Germany)
last_election46.9%, 34 seats
seats446
seat_change412
popular_vote43,440,911
percentage49.1%
swing42.2 pp
image5
candidate5Petra Kelly
party5Alliance 90/The Greens
last_election55.6%, 27 seats
seats542
seat_change515
popular_vote53,126,256
percentage58.3%
swing52.7 pp
map_image1987 West German federal election.svg
map_size325px
map_captionThe 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.
titleGovernment
before_electionSecond Kohl cabinet
before_partyCDU/CSU-FDP
posttitleGovernment after election
after_electionThird Kohl cabinet
after_partyCDU/CSU-FDP

(reunification)

A federal election was held in West Germany on 25 January 1987 to elect the members of the 11th Bundestag. This was the last federal election held in West Germany before German reunification.

Issues and campaign

The SPD nominated Johannes Rau, their vice chairman and the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, as their candidate for Chancellor. However, the SPD suffered from internal divisions and competition with the Greens. It was also unclear as to how they would form a government, as the Greens were divided over whether to take part in governments.

One of the major issues in this election was the environment, after the Chernobyl disaster and other accidents.

Results

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

Results by state

Constituency seats

StateTotal
seatsSeats wonCDUSPDCSUChristian Democratic Union of Germany}};"Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"Baden-Württemberg37Bavaria45Bremen3Hamburg7Hesse22Lower Saxony31North Rhine-Westphalia71Rhineland-Palatinate16Saarland5Schleswig-Holstein11Total2481247945
361
45
3
25
148
1813
3338
115
23
83

List seats

StateTotal
seatsSeats wonSPDCDUFDPGrüneCSUSocial Democratic Party of Germany}};"Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"Alliance 90/The Greens}};"Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"Baden-Württemberg37Bavaria42Bremen4Hamburg7Hesse23Lower Saxony32North Rhine-Westphalia72Rhineland-Palatinate16Saarland5Schleswig-Holstein11Total2491075046424
2197
24774
211
1312
10544
13865
24251211
7432
1211
6122

Aftermath

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. The Greens came into parliament for the second time and seemed to be established on federal level.

Co-option of East German Volkskammer after reunification

In order to determine the composition of the East German representatives in the Bundestag between German reunification and the first post-reunification elections in December 1990, the results of the 1990 East German general election were recounted, using the new states of Germany as constituencies. This was possible since the original election results were declared on the Kreis level, and the states were re-established by simply amalgamating Kreise together. The results in each Kreis forming a state were summed up to determine the statewide result. The recount fixed the number of Volkskammer members from each party who would be co-opted into the Bundestag elected in 1987. The 22 Non-voting representatives of West Berlin already became full voting members on 8 June 1990, in advance of unification.

Co-optation results

Seats

StateTotal
seatsSeats wonCDUSPDPDSFDPDSUB90/GVLChristian Democratic Union of Germany}};"Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)}};"Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"German Social Union (East Germany)}};"Alliance 90/The Greens}};"BrandenburgBerlinTotalEastWestMecklenburg-VorpommernSaxonySaxony-AnhaltThuringiaTotal (East Germany Only)1446333239871Total (Including West Berlin)16674402311891
22874111
3313112311
11242111
2211722
1774411
432076352
271274211
241443111

Notes

References

Sources

References

  1. Pulzer, Peter. (1987). "The west German federal election of 25 January 1987". Electoral Studies.
  2. [https://www.wahlen-in-deutschland.de/bovkBundestag.htm Mandatsverteilung der ehemaligen Volkskammerabgeordneten im XI. Bundestag am 03.10.1990] {{Webarchive. link. (2022-10-03 Wahlen in Deutschland)
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