West German federal election, 1987

German federal election, 1987

25 January 1987 (1987-01-25)
All 519 seats in the Bundestag 260 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	84.3% (voting eligible)
First party Second party   Leader Helmut Kohl Johannes Rau Party CDU/CSU SPD Leader since 1973 – Last election 255 seats 202 seats 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%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Martin Bangemann Petra Kelly Party FDP Green Leader since 1985 Last election 35 seats 28 seats 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%
180px Party list election results by state: dark blue denotes states where CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes; and pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes
Chancellor before election Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU Elected Chancellor Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU

German federal elections took place on 25 January 1987, to elect members to the 11th Bundestag, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany. This was the last federal election held in West Germany prior to 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

 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	193	48	44
CDU/CSU	SPD	FDP	Grüne

Popular Vote
CDU/CSU			44.26%
SPD			37.04%
F.D.P.			9.09%
GRÜNE			8.26%
Other			1.35%

Bundestag seats
CDU/CSU			44.87%
SPD			37.42%
F.D.P.			9.26%
GRÜNE			8.45%

File:1987 federal german result.svg

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.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos