Bavarian state election, 2008

Bavarian state election, 2008
28 September 2008 (2008-09-28)
All 187 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria

  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Günther Beckstein Franz Maget Hubert Aiwanger
Party CSU SPD FW
Last election 124 seats 41 seats 0 seats
Seats won 92 39 21
Seat change Decrease 32 Decrease 2 Increase 21
Percentage 43.4% 18.6% 10.2%
Swing Decrease 17.3% Decrease 1.0% Increase 6.2%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Sepp Daxenberger Martin Zeil
Party Green FDP
Last election 15 seats 0 seats
Seats won 19 16
Seat change Increase 4 Increase 16
Percentage 9.4% 8.0%
Swing Increase 1.7% Increase 5.4%
Minister President before election

Günther Beckstein
CSU

 Resulting Minister President

Horst Seehofer
CSU

Germany
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Germany
Foreign relations
Germany portal

The 2008 Bavarian state election was held on 28 September 2008. Voters of the German state of Bavaria elected members to the Bavarian Landtag (state legislature).

Outcome

  • The CSU had its poorest result since the election of 1954, and in so doing lost its majority in the Landtag of Bavaria for the first time in 46 years.[1][2] The CSU was forced to enter into coalition with the free-market FDP, reminiscent of the Helmut Kohl era.
  • This result was seen as a stinging defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel, dampening hopes for the CDU/CSU in the upcoming federal election in 2009.
  • The SPD also fared poorly, itself having its worst result ever in this election, polling just 18.6% and losing 2 seats. This is likely due to the entrance into the race of the left Linke party, among other factors. Surprisingly, some SPD members claimed themselves to be winners of the election, interpreting the lost CSU majority as possibility to form a government coalition without CSU participation.
  • The liberal FDP entered the Landtag again, after a 14-year absence.
  • The Free Voters grassroots movement entered the Landtag for the first time. Its 21 seats in the new Landtag will make it the third largest party.
  • The socialist Linke party stood for the first time in Bavaria. Its 4.3% vote-share failed to surpass the 5% threshold, thus it gained no seats.
  • The far-right NPD made its first serious attempt in Bavaria in decades, but failed to establish itself.

Results

 Summary of the 28 September 2008 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria
Party Ideology Vote (change) Seats (change) Seats %
Christian Social Union (CSU) Conservatism, Christian democracy 43.4% −17.3 92 −32 49.2%
Social Democratic Party (SPD) Social democracy 18.6% −1.0 39 −2 20.9%
Free Voters (FW) Regional, right-leaning 10.2% +6.2 21 +21 11.2%
Alliance '90/The Greens Green politics 9.4% +1.7 19 +4 10.2%
Free Democratic Party (FDP) Classical liberalism 8.0% +5.4 16 +16 8.6%
The Left (Die Linke) Democratic socialism 4.3% +4.3
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) Environmental, centre-right 2.0% +0.0
The Republicans (Republikaner) National conservatism 1.4% −0.9
National Democratic Party (NPD) Far-right, ultranationalist 1.2% +1.2
Bavaria Party (BP) Secessionist, centre-right 1.1% +0.3
Pensioners' Party (RRP) Pensioner's Advocacy 0.2% +0.2
The Violets (Violetten) Spiritualist 0.1% +0.1
Citizens' Bloc (BB) 0.1% +0.1
All Others 0.0% +0.0
Total 100.0%   187 +7 100.0%

Turnout was at 58.1%, about a percent higher than in 2003.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bavarian conservatives lose state majority in damaging defeat". Deutsche Welle. 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  2. ↑ n-tv:Fiasko für die CSU Archived 2008-09-29 at the Wayback Machine.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.