State election in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1947
The first state election in North Rhine-Westphalia took place on April 20, 1947.
Before the first election of a state parliament , the British occupying power had set up a parliament that consisted of 100 Westphalia and 100 members from the province of North Rhine-Westphalia . Parliament first met on October 2, 1946 in the Düsseldorf Opera House . The state parliament consisted of 71 members of the SPD , 66 members of the CDU , 34 of the KPD , 18 of the Center and 9 of the FDP . The basis for the composition was an estimate by the British military government . The number of MPs was corrected after the first local election. After that, the CDU received 92 seats and the SPD 66. After the accession of the state of Lippe in 1947, some representatives from Lippe also moved into the state parliament.
The basis for the first elections to the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament was an electoral law that was passed on March 5, 1947.
Only parties and individual applicants who had received a license from the British military government and who had reached the age of 25 were admitted to the elections. Anyone who had German citizenship on May 12, 1946 or who had lost German citizenship for political reasons and who had reached the age of 21 was eligible to vote.
Result
Eligible voters: 7,860,608
Voters: 5,290,598
Turnout: 67.31%
Valid votes: 5,028,892
| Political party | agree completely |
Share in% |
Electoral kreisbe- tors |
Direct MAN date |
Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 1,889,581 | 37.57 | 148 | 92 | 92 |
| SPD | 1,607,487 | 31.97 | 150 | 53 | 64 |
| KPD | 702.410 | 13.97 | 150 | 3 | 28 |
| center | 491.138 | 9.77 | 145 | 2 | 20th |
| FDP | 298.995 | 5.95 | 139 | 12 | |
| DKP-DRP | 24,879 | 0.49 | 14th | ||
| RVP | 13,547 | 0.27 | 29 | ||
| Individual applicants | 855 | 0.02 | 2 | ||
| Total | 5,028,892 | 777 | 150 | 216 |
In the constituency of Kleve, the election was not held until May 18, 1947. The CDU received 16 overhang mandates, the total number of mandates increased from 200 to 216.
On June 16, 1947, Karl Arnold (CDU) was elected Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia. He formed a coalition of CDU, SPD, Zentrum and KPD.
During the electoral period, four center members switched to the CDU.
Distribution of seats at the end of the electoral term: CDU 96, SPD 64, KPD 28, Zentrum 16, FDP 12
See also
- Cabinet Arnold I
- List of state electoral districts in North Rhine-Westphalia, 1947
- List of members of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia (1st electoral period)
