Landtag of Hesse

1. Legislative period (1946 bis 1950)

The first regular election on 1946-12-01 was also won by the SPD.

A Grand coalition of SPD and CDU decided on electing Christian Stock (SPD) as first free elected Minister-President of Hesse after WW II.

4. Legislative period (1958 bis 1962)

The fourth election of November 23rd 1958 perpetuated the previous coalition.

7. Legislative period (1970 bis 1974)

Headed by Alfred Dregger the CDU was able to make an impressive jump in the election of 1970-11-08. The SPD lost its majority but agreed on a Social-liberal coalition with the FDP and Albert Osswald was reelected.

10. Legislative period (1982 bis 1983)

After the break of the Social-liberal coalition in Germany, the FDP was not able to reach more then 5 % and got no seats in the Landtag. At the same time, themselves reaching the 5% threshold, the Greens (Die Grünen) made their entrance in a German parliament for the first time, but not long thereafter, they announced their fundamental opposition to parliamentary democracy. For its part, the SPD was not willing to accept a grand coalition headed by the CDU. As a result, a Snap election took place a year later.

13. Legislative period (1991 bis 1995)

The vote on 1991-01-20 was as close as the last one, but this time the SPD and the Greens obtained slightly more seats. Hand Eichel (SPD) became the new Minister-President, supported by a red/green-alliance.

16th Legislative period (2003 through 2008)

The election of 2003-02-02 was a disaster for the SPD. The CDU managed to get a majority even without the FDP. All but two constituencies were won - even in the north of Hesse, where the SPD had won each single election in the 20th century.

17. Legislative period (2008 through 2013)

Like in 1982, the results of the election allowed no stable coalition to take the reins of government. Andrea Ypsilanti, leader of the SPD, had promised several times during the electoral campaign not to work together with the new leftist party Die Linke (The Left). A few weeks after election day, she was tempted to go for a SPD–Green coalition supported by The Left but under opposition from MP Dagmar Metzger (SPD) decided not to renege on her promise not to pursue such a venue. As of today, Roland Koch is still Minister-President but without majority in the parliament. A new election is possible if the Landtag is dissolved through a majority vote, but the present "affair-oriented government" (Geschäftsführende Landesregierung) is, although not confortable, also viable.

References

External links

* [http://www.hessischer-landtag.de Official webpage (german)]