1987 West German federal election

Federal elections were 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 prior to German reunification.

1987 West German federal election

25 January 1987
All 519 seats in the Bundestag 260 seats needed for a majority
Registered	45,327,982 2.8%
Turnout	38,225,294 (84.3%)[1] 4.8%
Leader Helmut Kohl Johannes Rau Party CDU/CSU SPD Leader since 12 June 1973 [lower-alpha 1] Leader's seat Rhineland-Palatinate North Rhine-Westphalia[lower-alpha 2] Last election 255 seats, 48.8% 202 seats, 38.2% Seats won 234 193 Seat change 21 9 Popular vote 16,761,572 14,025,763 Percentage 44.2% 37.0% Swing 4.6% 1.2%   Leader Martin Bangemann Petra Kelly Party FDP Green Leader since 23 February 1985 Leader's seat Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Last election 35 seats, 6.9% 28 seats, 5.6% Seats won 48 44 Seat change 13 16 Popular vote 3,440,911 3,126,256 Percentage 9.1% 8.3% Swing 2.2% 2.7%
Results by state for the second votes. Light blue denotes states where the CDU/CSU won a plurality of votes; darker blue denotes states where CDU/CSU won an absolute majority of votes; pink denotes states where the SPD won a plurality of votes.
Chancellor before election Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU Elected Chancellor Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU

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

 Summary of the 25 January 1987 German Bundestag election results

Parties		Constituency					Party list					Total seats
		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Seats^†	+/−	%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	14,787,953	39.2	−1.2	79	+11	14,025,763	37.0	−1.2	107	−18	193	−9	37.2
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	14,168,527	37.5	−3.5	124	−12	13,045,745	34.4	−3.7	50	−5	185	−17	35.6
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	3,859,244	10.2	−0.9	45	+1	3,715,827	9.8	−0.8	4	−5	49	−4	9.4
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1,760,496	4.7	+1.9	0	±0	3,440,911	9.1	+2.2	46	+12	48	+13	9.2
	The Greens^‡	2,649,459	7.0	+2.9	0	±0	3,126,256	8.3	+2.7	42	+15	44	+16	8.5
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	182,880	0.5	+0.4	0	±0	227,054	0.6	+0.4	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	40,765	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	109,152	0.3	+0.3	0	±0	0	±0	0
	The Women (FRAUEN)	–	–	–	–	–	62,904	0.2	+0.2	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Bavaria Party (BP)	8,024	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	26,367	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Responsible Citizens	611	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	24,630	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Patriots for Germany (Patrioten)	27,352	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	22,732	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Centre Party (ZENTRUM)	4,020	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	19,035	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Marxist–Leninist Party (MLPD)	596	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	13,422	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Christian Bavarian People's Party (CBV)	741	0.0	±0	0	±0	5,282	0.0	±0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	All Social Insurants and Pensioners (ASD)	3,151	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	1,834	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Free German Workers' Party (FAP)	349	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	405	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Humanist Party (HP)	788	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	SOLIDARITÄT	754	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Independent Workers' Party (UAP)	352	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Family Party (Familie)	130	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Free Social Union (FSU)	110	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
	Electoral groups and independents	246,511	0.7	+0.6	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
Invalid/blank votes		482,481	—	—	—	—	357,975	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Totals		38,225,294	100	±0.0	248	±0	38,225,294	100	±0.0	249	–1	519	−1	±0
Registered voters/turnout		45,327,982	84.3	—	—	—	45,327,982	84.3	—	—	—	—	—	—
Source: Federal Returning Officer

^† — includes the non-voting delegates for West Berlin (11 CDU, 7 SPD, 2 FDP, 2 AL).

^‡ — known as Alternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz (AL) in West Berlin.

↓

234	48	193	44
CDU/CSU	FDP	SPD	Grüne

Popular Vote CDU/CSU   44.26% SPD   37.04% FDP   9.09% GRÜNE   8.26% Other   1.35%

Bundestag seats CDU/CSU   44.87% SPD   37.42% FDP   9.26% GRÜNE   8.45%

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

Post-election

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.

Notes

1. Rau was the SPD's Chancellor candidate, but did not serve as party leader.
2. Rau was elected on the SPD's North Rhine-Wesphalia list, but did not accept his mandate after the election.

References

1. "Voter turnout by election year". Website of the Federal Returning Officer's Office. The Federal Returning Officer. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos