State election in Lower Saxony in 1959
The election to the 4th Lower Saxony State Parliament took place on April 19, 1959. In the course of the previous legislative period in 1957, the FDP and BHE had left the first state government without the participation of the SPD due to the guest affair . As a result, the German party , the CDU and the SPD, which was able to return to the government bank, formed a new state government under Heinrich Hellwege (DP).
Election result
- Eligible voters: 4,477,897
- Voters: 3,493,904 (turnout: 78.03%)
- valid votes: 3437396
| Political party | be right | Share in% |
Direct MAN date |
Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPD | 1356485 | 39.46 | 65 | 65 |
| CDU | 1058687 | 30.80 | 20th | 51 |
| DP | 424524 | 12.35 | 9 | 20th |
| GB / BHE | 285942 | 8.32 | 13 | |
| FDP | 179522 | 5.22 | 1 | 8th |
| DRP | 122062 | 3.55 | ||
| BdD | 4947 | 0.14 | ||
| DG | 2775 | 0.08 | ||
| center | 955 | 0.03 | ||
| DVP | 183 | 0.00 | ||
| Individual applicants | 1314 | 0.04 | ||
| Total | 3437396 | 95 | 157 |
The SPD received four overhang mandates, the CDU three compensatory mandates and the DP one. This increased the number of seats from 149 to 157.
Both popular parties were able to gain just under 4 percent of the vote. The SPD was still by far the strongest party in the state parliament. They separated almost 10 percent from the CDU. The German party achieved the same result as four years earlier with 12.4 percent. The displaced party GB / BHE lost almost 3 percentage points and only received 8.3 percent of the vote. The FDP also lost almost 3 percent and with 5.2 percent was just able to overcome the five percent hurdle introduced into the electoral law. The right-wing extremist German Reich Party lost only slightly from 3.8 to 3.6 percent. Due to the new five percent hurdle, however, she was no longer represented in the state parliament.
The new majority structure made the formation of a bourgeois government against the SPD appear likely. CDU top candidate Werner Hofmeister initially sent contradicting signals. Der Spiegel reported on the formation of a government after the 1963 election about the events in 1959: "The CDU Justice Minister at the time, Dr. Werner Hofmeister, whom the Christian Democrats had identified as future Prime Minister, unabashedly and before the election, announced that he was quite ready "to enter his government under my friend's head." DP Prime Minister Hellwege also praised the fact that the coalition with the Social Democrats was functioning perfectly. "
The BHE and FDP were therefore suspicious of the CDU and the German party and surprisingly agreed with the SPD on a joint government . In contrast to the CDU, the SPD was ready to ensure the maintenance of the liberal school policy and the waiver of the change of proportional representation to the state parliament. In the FDP, especially in school policy, there were reservations about the CDU's demand to introduce a denominational school.
Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (SPD) became Prime Minister again. He is one of only six prime ministers who have been able to regain office after losing it. Kopf died in 1961. He was replaced by Georg Diederichs (SPD), who continued the coalition .
See also
literature
- Claus A. Fischer (Ed.): Election manual for the Federal Republic of Germany. Data on Bundestag, Landtag and European elections in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the federal states and in the districts 1946–1989, 2nd half volume. Paderborn 1990.
Web links
- State elections of Lower Saxony on wahlen-in-deutschland.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The FDP in the register . In: The time . No. 46/1957 ( online ).
- ↑ Between the Elbe and Ems . In: The time . No. 13/1959 ( online ).
- ↑ Günter Pifke: FDP laundry room in Wolfenbüttel . In: The time . No. 06/1958 ( online ).
- ↑ And Hellwege? In: The time . No. 17/1959 ( online ).
- ↑ a b NIEDERSACHSEN: His best bottle . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 1963 ( online ).
- ↑ Günter Pijke: horse-trading in Hanover . In: The time . No. 18/1959 ( online ).
