1965 West German federal election

19 September 1965 (1965-09-19)
All 496 seats in the Bundestag[lower-alpha 1] 249 seats needed for a majority
Registered	38,510,395 2.9%
Turnout	33,416,207 (86.8%) 0.9pp
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Ludwig Erhard Willy Brandt Erich Mende Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Last election 45.3%, 242 seats 36.2%, 190 seats 12.8%, 67 seats Seats won 245[lower-alpha 2] 202[lower-alpha 3] 49[lower-alpha 4] Seat change 3 12 18 Popular vote 15,524,068 12,813,186 3,096,739 Percentage 47.6% 39.3% 9.5% Swing 2.3pp 3.1pp 3.3pp
Results by constituency for the first votes. Grey denotes seats won by the CDU/CSU; red denotes seats won by the SPD.
Government before election First Erhard cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP Government after election Second Erhard cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP

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Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 September 1965 to elect the members of the 5th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, while the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 217 of the 518 seats (including 15 of the 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin).

Campaign

Federal Chancellor Ludwig Erhard was initially popular as the acclaimed "father" of West Germany's economic miracle of the 1950s and early 1960s. West Germany's economy still seemed solid in 1965, and thus not enough West German voters wanted to change the party of Federal Chancellor. To ensure his victory in this Bundestag election, Erhard promised to cut income tax and to increase social program spending.^[1][2]

Results

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Elected	West Berlin	Total	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	12,813,186	39.28	108	12,998,474	40.07	94	202	15	217	+14
	Christian Democratic Union	12,387,562	37.97	78	12,631,319	38.94	118	196	6	202	+1
	Christian Social Union	3,136,506	9.62	13	3,204,648	9.88	36	49	0	49	–1
	Free Democratic Party	3,096,739	9.49	49	2,562,294	7.90	0	49	1	50	–17
	National Democratic Party	664,193	2.04	0	587,216	1.81	0	0	0	0	0
	German Peace Union	434,182	1.33	0	386,900	1.19	0	0	0	0	0
	Action Community of Independent Germans	52,637	0.16	0	46,146	0.14	0	0	0	0	New
	Christian People's Party	19,832	0.06	0	11,978	0.04	0	0	0	0	New
	Free Social Union	10,631	0.03	0	6,287	0.02	0	0	0	0	New
	Independent Workers' Party	3,959	0.01	0	1,127	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	European Federalist Party	1,015	0.00	0	0	0.00	–	0	0	0	New
	Independents and voter groups				660	0.00	0	0	0	0	0
Total		32,620,442	100.00	248	32,437,049	100.00	248	496	22	518	–3
Valid votes		32,620,442	97.62		32,437,049	97.07
Invalid/blank votes		795,765	2.38		979,158	2.93
Total votes		33,416,207	100.00		33,416,207	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		38,510,395	86.77		38,510,395	86.77
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Aftermath

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor. In 1966, the FDP left the coalition over budget issues, and Erhard resigned. Kurt Georg Kiesinger (also CDU) formed a new grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD which lasted until the next election.

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1965 Germany Bundestagswahl.

References