Lower Saxony state election, 2003

Lower Saxony state election, 2003

2 February 2003

All 183 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony   First party Second party   Leader Christian Wulff Sigmar Gabriel Party CDU SPD Last election 62 seats, 39,9% 83 seats, 47,9% Seats before 62 83 Seats won 91 63 Seat change 29 20 Popular vote 1.925.055 1.330.156 Percentage 48,3% 33,6% Swing 12,4 14,5

Ministerpräsident before election Sigmar Gabriel SPD Resulting Ministerpräsident Christian Wulff CDU

The 2003 Lower Saxony state election was held in Lower Saxony in north-western Germany on 2 February 2003. The incumbent Social Democratic Party was defeated by the opposition Christian Democratic Union.

Background

The election in Lower Saxony had larger significance than just in the state itself.^[1] Defeat for the Social Democrats in the election would mean they lost their slim majority in the upper house of the German parliament, the Bundesrat.^[1] It was thought this might cause the collapse of Gerhard Schröder's national coalition government between the Social Democrats and the Green Party.^[1]

Campaign

The economy was seen as the most important issue in the election, with the Social Democrats suffering as a result.^[2]

Opinion polls in December 2002 showed the Christian Democrats in the lead with 43% as against 34% for the Social Democrats.^[3]

Results

Seat results -- SPD in red, CDU in black, Greens in green, FDP in yellow

Summary of the 2 February 2003 election results for the Landtag of Lower Saxony

Party		Party list votes	Vote % (change)		Seats (change)		Seat %
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,925,055	48.3%	+12.4%	91	+29	49.7%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1,330,156	33.4%	-14.5%	63	-20	34.4%
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	323,107	8.1%	+3.2%	15	+15	8.2%
	Green Party (Bündnis 90/Grünen)	304,532	7.6%	+0.6%	14	+2	7.7%
	Law and Order Offensive Party	40,342	1.0%	+1.0%	0	-	0.0%
	Party of Democratic Socialism	21,560	0.5%	+0.3%	0	-	0%
	Others	39,257	1.0%	-3.0%	0	-	0%
	Total	3,984,009	100.0%		183	+26	100.0%
Sources: Parties and Elections in Europe and Adam Carr's Election Archive

Aftermath

The SPD vote share fell dramatically, and Christian Wulff (CDU) was able to form a CDU-FDP coalition and become Prime Minister instead of Sigmar Gabriel (SPD).

References

1. Hall, Allan (2002-12-01). "The joke's on Schroder as Germans seek serious answers to economic crisis". Scotland on Sunday. p. 21.
2. "State voters reject Schroeder". CNN. 2003-02-03. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
3. Hall, Allan (2002-12-26). "Germany is desperately seeking Schroder as chancellor loses his grip". The Scotsman. p. 9.