2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

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2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
← 2000 22 May 2005 2010 →
All 187 seats of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
94 seats needed for a majority
Turnout8,244,014 (63.0%)
Increase 6.3%
  First party Second party
  Juergen Ruettgers hamm 2010.jpg Peer Steinbrück, Rhein-Ruhr-Halle Duisburg, 2005.jpg
Leader Jürgen Rüttgers Peer Steinbrück
Party CDU SPD
Last election 88 seats, 37.0% 102 seats, 42.8%
Seats won 89 74
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 28
Popular vote 3,696,506 3,058,988
Percentage 44.8% 37.1%
Swing Increase 7.8% Decrease 5.7%
  Third party Fourth party
  Bhoehn.jpg Andreas Pinkwart2.jpg
Leader Bärbel Höhn Andreas Pinkwart
Party Green FDP
Last election 17 seats, 7.1% 24 seats, 9.8%
Seats won 12 12
Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 12
Popular vote 509,293 508,266
Percentage 6.2% 6.2%
Swing Decrease 0.9% Decrease 3.6%
Minister-President before election

Peer Steinbrück
SPD

Elected Minister-President

Jürgen Rüttgers
CDU

The 2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 22 May 2005 to elect the members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Peer Steinbrück was defeated. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) became the largest party and formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). CDU leader Jürgen Rüttgers was subsequently elected Minister-President. This marked the first period of non-SPD government in the state since 1966.

Campaign and issues[]

Leading up to the election, the state was governed by a coalition of the SPD and the Greens, with Peer Steinbrück as Minister-President.

For much of 2004, there had been speculation that if the opposition Christian Democratic Union were to win this election, they would gain a two-thirds majority in the national upper house, the Bundesrat, and force a new election for the Bundestag by making the country ungovernable for Gerhard Schröder's coalition. Following the CDU's loss of a majority in Saxony, this risk was alleviated; however, North Rhine-Westphalia had been governed by the SPD alone or in coalition since 1966, so a defeat there would be perceived as a grave blow to the SPD.

Leading up to the election, polling in the state indicated a consistent lead (from 5-11% depending on agency) for a coalition of the CDU and the FDP over the SPD-Green share. In general, high German unemployment and the unpopularity of the national SPD and the appeared to have taken a toll. Polls did indicate that SPD state leader Steinbrück was personally more popular than CDU state leader Jürgen Rüttgers, though.

This election marked the debut of Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative, a left-wing party including many former SPD members who opposed perceived neoliberalism within the federal Schröder government.

Parties[]

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

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2000 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 		Social democracy Peer Steinbrück 42.8%
102 / 231
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands 		Christian democracy Jürgen Rüttgers 37.0%
88 / 231
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei 		Classical liberalism Andreas Pinkwart 9.8%
24 / 231
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 		Green politics Bärbel Höhn 7.1%
17 / 231

Opinion polling[]

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size 		SPD CDU FDP Grüne WASG Others Lead
2005 state election 22 May 2005 – 37.1 44.8 6.2 6.2 2.2 3.5 7.7
Forsa 18 May 2005 1,326 36 43 7 7 – 7 7
Infratest dimap 12–13 May 2005 1,000 37 43 7.5 7.5 – 5 6
Infas 10–12 May 2005 750 36 43 8 7 – 6 7
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 9–12 May 2005 1,062 35 44 7 9 – 5 9
Infratest dimap 10–11 May 2005 1,000 37 43 7 8 2 3 6
Forsa 26 Apr–6 May 2005 1,017 34 45 7 7 2 5 11
Infratest dimap 2–3 May 2005 1,010 35 45 7 8 – 5 10
Emnid 3 May 2005 ? 34 44 7 9 2 4 10
Forsa 25–29 Apr 2005 1,109 35 45 7 7 2 4 10
Infratest dimap 26–28 Apr 2005 1,000 34 45 7 9 – 5 11
Emnid 26 Apr 2005 1,000 34 45 6 10 – 5 11
Emnid 29 Mar–18 Apr 2005 1,053 35 45 6 9 – 5 10
Infratest dimap 12–14 Apr 2005 1,000 35 45 7 8 – 5 10
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 5–7 Apr 2005 1,039 36 46 6 8 – 4 10
Infratest dimap 4–5 Apr 2005 1,000 34 45 7 9 – 5 11
Emnid 24 Mar–3 Apr 2005 1,063 35 45 7 9 – 4 10
Forsa 30 Mar–5 Apr 2005 1,009 36 45 5 8 – 5 9
Infratest dimap 15–17 Mar 2005 1,000 35 42 7 10 1 5 7
Emnid 2–14 Mar 2005 1,058 35 43 7 10 – 5 8
Infratest dimap 1–3 Mar 2005 1,000 35 43 7 9 – 6 8
Forsa 21 Feb–1 Mar 2005 1,012 36 42 7 9 – 6 6
Infratest dimap 9–10 Feb 2005 1,000 37 39 7 9 – 8 2
Forsa 10–12 Jan 2005 1,302 39 39 7 9 – 6 Tie
Infratest dimap 4–6 Jan 2005 1,010 38 40 7 10 – 5 2
Emnid 3 Dec 2004 1,000 33 40 8 13 – 6 7
Forsa 2 Dec 2004 ? 36 39 8 11 – 6 3
Infratest dimap 29 Oct–4 Nov 2004 1,075 36 40 8 11 – 5 4
Infratest dimap 13–15 Sep 2004 1,000 30 43 7 13 – 7 13
Emnid 8–9 Sep 2004 1,000 30 43 7 11 – 9 13
Infratest dimap 24–26 Aug 2004 1,000 32 42 7 12 3 4 10
Emnid 9 Aug 2004 1,000 28 44 8 12 – 8 16
Psephos 31 May–4 Jun 2004 1,000 33 47 6 10 – 4 14
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 24 Apr 2004 ? 29 49 5 12 – 5 20
Psephos 18 Apr 2004 1,003 34 47 7 8 – 4 13
dimap 2–8 Mar 2004 1,007 32 48 6 10 – 4 16
dimap 20–25 Jan 2004 1,001 32 48 8 9 – 3 16
dimap 19 Jan 2004 ? 33 48 7 8 – 4 15
Psephos 2 Nov 2003 ? 31 47 7 10 – 5 16
dimap 30 Sep–2 Oct 2003 1,050 34 47 6 10 – 3 13
Infratest dimap 1 Jul 2003 1,000 33 47 7 10 – 3 14
Emnid 13 Jun 2003 ? 36 45 6 10 – 3 9
Forsa 26–30 May 2003 1,508 37 45 6 9 – 3 8
Infratest dimap 26–27 May 2003 1,000 33 45 8 11 – 3 12
dimap 19 May 2003 1,005 32 48 7 9 – 4 16
dimap 11–14 Mar 2003 1,000 33 48 6 10 – 3 15
Psephos 9 Feb 2003 1,005 33 46 8 10 – 3 7
Emnid 9–14 Jan 2003 1,000 36 45 6 9 – 4 9
Psephos 10 Nov 2002 ? 39 43 8 7 – 3 4
Psephos 15 Apr 2002 ? 36 38 12 8 – 6 2
Psephos 20 Jan 2002 ? 39 41 10 6 – 4 2
Psephos 30 Sep 2001 ? 43 38 10 6 – 3 5
Psephos 13 May 2001 ? 44 35 11 7 – 3 9
Psephos 14 Jan 2001 ? 41 38 9 8 – 4 3
2000 state election 14 May 2000 – 42.8 37.0 9.8 7.1 – 3.3 5.8

Election result[]

Summary of the 22 May 2005 election results for the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
Party Votes % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 3,696,506 44.8 Increase7.8 89 Increase1 47.6
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 3,058,988 37.1 Decrease5.7 74 Decrease28 39.6
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 509,293 6.2 Decrease0.8 12 Decrease5 6.4
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 508,266 6.2 Decrease3.6 12 Decrease12 6.4
Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative (WASG) 181,988 2.2 New 0 New 0
National Democratic Party (NPD) 73,969 0.9 Increase0.9 0 ±0 0
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) 72,989 0.9 Decrease0.2 0 ±0 0
The Republicans (REP) 67,220 0.8 Decrease0.3 0 ±0 0
Others 74,795 0.9 0 ±0 0
Total 8,244,014 100.0 187 Decrease44
Voter turnout 63.0 Increase6.3
Popular Vote
CDU
 
 44.84%
SPD
 
 37.11%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 6.18%
FDP
 
 6.17%
WASG
 
 2.21%
Other
 
 3.51%
Landtag seats
CDU
 
 47.59%
SPD
 
 39.57%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 6.42%
FDP
 
 6.42%

Sources[]

NRW election authority

References[]

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