2001 Hamburg state election

2001 Hamburg state election
← 1997 23 September 2001 2004 →
All 121 seats in the Hamburg Parliament
61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout850,668 (71.1%)
Increase 2.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ortwin Runde Ole von Beust Ronald Schill
Party SPD CDU Schill
Last election 54 seats, 36.2% 46 seats, 30.7% Did not exist
Seats won 46 33 25
Seat change Decrease 8 Decrease 13 Increase 25
Popular vote 310,362 223,015 165,421
Percentage 36.5% 26.2% 19.4%
Swing Increase 0.3% Decrease 4.5% New party
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Greens FDP
Last election 21 seats, 13.9% 0 seats, 3.5%
Seats won 11 6
Seat change Decrease 5[a] Increase6
Popular vote 72,771 43,214
Percentage 8.6% 5.1%
Swing Decrease 5.3% Increase 1.6%
Mayor before election

Ortwin Runde
SPD

Elected Mayor

Ole von Beust
CDU

The 2001 Hamburg state election was held on 23 September 2001 to elect the members of the 17th Hamburg Parliament. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Green Alternative List (GAL) led by First Mayor Ortwin Runde was defeated, ending 44 years of uninterrupted SPD rule in the city-state.

The most significant change of the election was the entry of the Party for a Rule of Law Offensive ("Schill party") led by Ronald Schill into Parliament with 19.4% of the vote and 25 seats. This can partly be attributed to the general feeling of insecurity due to the September 11 attacks less than two weeks earlier, especially since three of the terrorists involved, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, had been members of the Hamburg cell.[1][2]

Five Green members of parliament left the party in 1999 in protest over the federal government's (at the time also an SPD-Green coalition) participation in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. They formed Rainbow – For a New Left. However, the list only received 1.7% of the vote in this election and lost all five seats.

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) also re-entered Parliament. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) subsequently formed a coalition with the Schill party and FDP, and CDU leader Ole von Beust was elected as First Mayor.[3]

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 16th Hamburg Parliament.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 1997 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 		Social democracy Ortwin Runde 36.2%
54 / 121
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands 		Christian democracy Ole von Beust 30.7%
46 / 121
GAL Green Alternative List
Grün-Alternative-Liste Hamburg 		Green politics 13.9%
21 / 121

Opinion polling

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size 		SPD CDU GAL FDP Schill Rainbow Others Lead
2001 state election 23 Sep 2001 – 36.5 26.2 8.6 5.1 19.4 1.7 2.5 10.3
Forsa 13–17 Sep 2001 1,041 36 28 11 5 14 3 3 8
Emnid 12 Sep 2001 ? 34 30 10 6 14 – 6 4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 8 Sep 2001 ? 36 27 12 7 14 2 2 9
Infratest dimap 3–8 Sep 2001 ? 35 28 9 5 16 2 5 7
Infratest dimap 27 Aug–2 Sep 2001 1,000 35 28 10 7 14 2 4 7
Forsa 22–27 Aug 2001 1,007 34 28 10 5 15 3 5 6
Infratest dimap 6–11 Aug 2001 1,000 35 30 10 7 12 1 5 5
Infratest dimap 12 Jul 2001 ? 35 29 11 8 10 1 5 6
Forsa 26 Jun–2 Jul 2001 1,050 37 31 9 5 9 – 9 6
Infratest dimap 5–10 Jun 2001 1,002 35 31 11 6 9 – 5 4
Forsa 2–7 May 2001 1,008 34 33 12 5 8 1 7 1
Forsa March 2001 1,002 36 31 13 4 8 2 6 5
Psephos 1–2 Feb 2001 1,007 36 32 13 3 9 – 7 4
Infratest dimap 27–29 Nov 2000 1,000 37 30 12 5 6 – 10 7
Psephos 24–25 May 2000 1,004 38 33 11 6 3 – 9 5
Psephos 7–9 Sep 1999 1,000 35 44 11 4 – – 6 9
Infratest dimap 7–9 Sep 1999 1,000 37 42 9 3 – – 9 5
1997 state election 21 Sep 1997 – 36.2 30.7 13.9 3.5 – – 15.7 5.5

Election result

Summary of the 23 September 2001 election results for the Hamburg Parliament
Party Votes % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 310,362 36.5 Increase0.3 46 Decrease8 38.0
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 223,015 26.2 Decrease4.5 33 Decrease13 27.3
Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Schill) 165,421 19.4 New 25 New 20.7
Green Alternative List (GAL) 72,771 8.6 Decrease5.3 11 Decrease5 9.1
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 43,214 5.1 Increase1.6 6 Increase6 5.0
Rainbow – For a new left (REGENBOGEN) 14,247 1.7 New 0 Decrease5 0
Others 21,638 2.5 0 ±0 0
Total 850,668 100.0 121 ±0
Voter turnout 71.1 Increase2.4
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 36.48%
CDU
 
 26.22%
SCHILL
 
 19.45%
GAL
 
 8.55%
FDP
 
 5.08%
Other
 
 4.22%
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
 
 38.02%
CDU
 
 27.27%
SCHILL
 
 20.66%
GAL
 
 9.09%
FDP
 
 4.96%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Five Green MPs had previously left the party in 1999.

References

  1. ^ Gunlicks, Arthur (2003). The Länder and German Federalism. Manchester University Press. p. 310.
  2. ^ Hyde-Price, Adrian (2003). Germany: Redefining its security role. p. 105.
  3. ^ Erlanger, Steven (2002-01-23). "Hamburg Journal; 'Judge Merciless' Thinks All Germany Needs Him". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-21.

Sources