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
Turnout10,358,108 (86.1% Increase 12.6pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Heinrich Köppler.jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F023752-0007, Heinz Kühn.jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F046793-0014, Mainz, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Riemer.jpg
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 Steady 0 Decrease 3 Increase 3
Popular vote 4,828,554 4,630,995 689,623
Percentage 47.1% 45.1% 6.7%
Swing Increase 0.8pp Decrease 1.0pp Increase 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.[1]

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

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

PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+/–
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)4,828,55447.05+0.72761995±0
Social Democratic Party (SPD)4,630,99545.13–0.93741791–3
Free Democratic Party (FDP)689,6236.72+1.2101414+3
German Communist Party (DKP)54,7770.53–0.36000±0
National Democratic Party (NPD)36,2810.35–0.73000±0
Centre Party (ZENTRUM)10,4870.10–0.01000±0
Communist Party of Germany (AO)7,7110.08New000New
Communist Party of Germany/M–L1,7310.02New000New
Independent Workers' Party (UAP)6480.01–0.01000±0
European Labour Party (EAP)3110.00New000New
Independents1,0870.01New0–0New
Total10,262,205100.00–15050200±0
Valid votes10,262,20599.07
Invalid/blank votes95,9030.93
Total votes10,358,108100.00
Registered voters/turnout12,035,28986.06
Source:
  • "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.

References

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