West German federal election, 1983

German federal election, 1983

1980 ←
6 March 1983 (1983-03-06)
→ 1987

All 498 seats in the Bundestag
250 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Helmut Kohl Hans-Jochen Vogel
Party CDU/CSU SPD
Leader since 1973 (chancellor since 1982) -
Last election 226 seats (CDU/CSU only) 218 seats (271 with FDP)
Seats won 244 (278 with FDP) 193 (SPD only)
Seat change +18 (+52) -25 (-78)
Popular vote 18,998,545 (21,705,487) 14,865,807
Percentage 48.8% (55.7%) 38.2%
Swing +4.3% (+11.2%) -4.7% (-15.3%)

Chancellor before election

Helmut Kohl
CDU/CSU

Elected Chancellor

Helmut Kohl
CDU/CSU

Germany

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Germany



Other countries · Atlas
Politics portal

The tenth German federal election was conducted on March 6, 1983, to elect members to the Bundestag (parliament) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Contents

Issues and campaign

In October 1982 CDU chairman Helmut Kohl was elected Chancellor by a CDU/CSU and FDP majority in the Bundestag, while the FDP in 1980 still was on the side of the SPD. Early elections were arranged. The SPD encountered difficulties because on the left a new party was emerging, the Greens.

A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision.

Results

Party Party List votes Vote percentage (change) Total Seats (change) Seat percentage
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 14,857,680 38.1% +3.9% 191 +17 38.4%
Christian Social Union (CSU) 4,140,865 10.6% +0.3% 53 +1 10.6%
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 2,706,942 6.9% -3.7% 34 -19 6.8%
Social Democratic Party 14,865,807 38.2% -4.7% 193 -25 38.8%
The Greens 2,167,431 5.6% +4.1% 27 +27 5.4%
All Others 201,962 0.5%   0   0.0%
Totals 38,940,687 100.0%   498 +1 100.0%

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. This was the first election in which the Greens secured representation in the Bundestag, and the first which saw a fourth (fifth) party in the parliament since 1960.

Sources