1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

The 1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 27 June 1954 to elect the 3rd Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Centre Party led by Minister-President Karl Arnold.

1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

← 1950 27 June 1954 1958 →

All 200 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout7,068,392 (72.6% Increase 0.3pp)
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Karl Arnold Fritz Steinhoff
Party CDU SPD
Last election 93 seats, 36.9% 68 seats, 32.3%
Seats won 90 76
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 8
Popular vote 2,855,988 2,387,718
Percentage 41.3% 34.5%
Swing Increase 4.4pp Increase 2.2pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Friedrich Middelhauve Rudolf Amelunxen
Party FDP Centre
Last election 26 seats, 12.1% 16 seats, 7.5%
Seats won 25 9
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 7
Popular vote 793,736 278,863
Percentage 11.5% 4.0%
Swing Decrease 0.6pp Decrease 3.5pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Second Arnold cabinet
CDUCentre

Government after election

Third Arnold cabinet
CDUFDPCentre

The CDU remained the largest party and improved its result to 41.3%, a swing of 4.4 percentage points. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) also improved slightly and finished on 34.5%. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) remained steady on 11.5%, while the Centre Party fell below the 5% electoral threshold and only very narrowly retained its seats due to a quirk of the electoral law. The Communist Party (KPD) declined to 3.8% and lost representation; the League of Expellees (BHE) ran for the first time and fell short of entering the Landtag with 4.5%.

Due to concerns that the Centre could fall below 5% and lose its seats, the CDU stood aside in constituency 62 (Essen Borbeck-Karnap) and endorsed the Centre candidate. Though the SPD won the constituency, the Centre were able to retain their seats thanks to an amendment to the electoral law which entitled parties which won a constituency, or won at least one-third of votes in any constituency, to proportional representation regardless of their statewide vote share. The Centre candidate in constituency 62 won 33.4%, just 26 votes above the quota.

Despite the Centre retaining their seats, the outgoing government lost its majority. The CDU formed a new coalition with the FDP and Centre.

Electoral system

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The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation and had a term of four years. 150 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats unless they win at least one constituency. In the 1954 election, parties which won at least one-third of votes in any constituency were also entitled to proportional representation. Overhang seats were not compensated.

Background

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In the previous election held on 18 June 1950, the CDU remained the largest party with 37%, followed by the SPD on 32%. The FDP doubled its vote share to 12%, while the Centre declined to 7.5% and the KPD lost most of their support and finished with 5.5%. Alongside the election, the new state constitution was approved by a comfortable margin. The CDU chose not to renew the outgoing grand coalition and, after a brief period of minority government, formed a coalition with the Centre. Minister-President Karl Arnold continued in office.

Parties

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Name Ideology Lead
candidate
1950 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Karl Arnold 36.9%
93 / 215
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Fritz Steinhoff 32.3%
68 / 215
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Friedrich Middelhauve 12.1%
26 / 215
ZENTRUM Centre Party
Deutsche Zentrumspartei
Political Catholicism Rudolf Amelunxen 7.5%
16 / 215
KPD Communist Party of Germany
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands
Communism 5.5%
12 / 215

Results

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76
25
9
90
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+/–
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)2,855,98841.25+4.3885590–3
Social Democratic Party (SPD)2,387,71834.49+2.15651176+8
Free Democratic Party (FDP)793,73611.47–0.6102525–1
League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (BHE)320,6764.63New000New
Centre Party (ZENTRUM)278,8634.03–3.49099–7
Communist Party of Germany (KPD)264,0833.81–1.65000–12
Alliance of Germans (BdD)19,5150.28New000New
German Party (DP)1,8980.03–1.69000±0
Independents5920.01–0.1000±0
Total6,923,069100.0015050200–15
Valid votes6,923,06997.94
Invalid/blank votes145,3232.06
Total votes7,068,392100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,730,07272.64
Source: [1] [2]
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  • "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2023.

References

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