1950 Hessian state election

The 1950 Hessian state election was held on 19 November 1950 to elect the 2nd Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President Christian Stock, who retired at the election. He was succeeded as SPD lead candidate by Georg-August Zinn.

1950 Hessian state election

19 November 1950

All 80 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
41 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,936,762 (64.9% Decrease 8.3pp)
  First party Second party
 
Georg-August Zinn.jpg
August-Martin Euler.jpg
Candidate Georg-August Zinn August-Martin Euler
Party SPD FDPGB/BHE
Last election 38 seats, 42.7% 14 seats, 15.7%[lower-alpha 1]
Seats won 47 21
Seat change Increase 9 Increase 7
Popular vote 821,268 588,739
Percentage 44.4% 31.8%
Swing Increase 1.7pp Increase 16.1pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Werner Hilpert.png
Candidate Werner Hilpert
Party CDU KPD
Last election 28 seats, 31.0% 10 seats, 10.7%
Seats won 12 0
Seat change Decrease 16 Decrease 10
Popular vote 348,148 87,878
Percentage 18.8% 4.7%
Swing Decrease 12.1pp Decrease 5.9pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Stock cabinet
SPDCDU

Government after election

First Zinn cabinet
SPD

The SPD won a clear majority of seats thanks to quirks of the electoral system, which had been modified since 1946 to a form of mixed-member proportional representation. The Hessian CDU, who took a left-of-centre course in government with the SPD, were heavily defeated and pushed to third place with 19%. An alliance of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and All-German Bloc/League of Expellees (GB/HBE) emerged as the second-largest party with 32%, but were unable to prevent the SPD from achieving its majority. Further, the Communist Party (KPD) slipped just below the 5% electoral threshold and lost their seats. After the election, Minister-President Stock retired and was succeeded by justice minister Georg-August Zinn, who led an SPD majority government.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 48 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 32 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

In the previous election held on 1 December 1946, the SPD remained the largest party with 43%, followed by the CDU on 31%, FDP on 16%, and KPD on 11%. The SPD subsequently formed a grand coalition with the CDU.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 1st Landtag of Hesse.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate
1946 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Georg-August Zinn 42.7%
38 / 90
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Werner Hilpert 31.0%
28 / 90
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism August-Martin Euler 15.7%
14 / 90
KPD Communist Party of Germany
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands
Communism 10.7%
10 / 90

Results

PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+–
Social Democratic Party821,26844.37+1.65361147+9
Free Democratic PartyAll-German Bloc/League of Expellees588,73931.81+16.1381321+7
Christian Democratic Union348,14818.81–12.154812–16
Communist Party87,8784.75–5.910000
National Democratic Party–German Reich Party1,9890.11New000New
Hessian Farmers' and Peasants' Party1,2190.07New000New
Bloc of Fatherland Unification7650.04New000New
Independents1,0810.06+0.06000
Total1,851,087100.00483280–10
Valid votes1,851,08795.58
Invalid/blank votes85,6754.42
Total votes1,936,762100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,985,02164.88
  • "The Election to the Hessian Landtag, 19 November 1950" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). March 1951. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  • "Absolute majority of the SPD in state elections in Hesse, November 19, 1950". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2023.

Notes

  1. Results for the LDP.
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