The 1972 Baden-Württemberg state election was held on 23 April 1972 to elect the members of the 5th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government under Minister-President Hans Filbinger was re-elected, this time gaining a majority in the Landtag.
History After the 1968 Baden-Württemberg state election, the Christian Democratic Union and Social Democratic Party had formed a grand coalition. The neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany, which had been relatively successful in the 1968 election, receiving almost ten percent of the vote and twelve seats, chose not to participate in the 1972 election. Instead, they called on their supporters to vote for the Christian Democratic Union.
The Christian Democratic Union was subsequently elected to a majority, the first time any party had ever won a majority in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg.
Parties The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Baden-Württemberg and which chose to contest the 1972 election.
Name Ideology Leader(s) 1968 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christian democracy Hans Filbinger 44.23% SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany Social democracy Walter Krause 28.95% FDP Free Democratic Party Classical liberalism Johann Peter Brandenburg 14.42%
Results
| colspan=8 | |- ! colspan="2" | Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | align=right| 2,513,808 | align=right| 52.92 | align=right| 8.69 | align=right| 65 | align=right| 5 | align=right| 54.17% |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | align=right| 1,784,416 | align=right| 37.56 | align=right| 8.61 | align=right| 45 | align=right| 8 | align=right| 37.50% |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | align=right| 424,685 | align=right| 8.94 | align=right| 5.48 | align=right| 10 | align=right| 8 | align=right| 8.33% |- ! colspan=8| |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | German Communist Party (DKP) | align=right| 21,973 | align=right| 0.46 | align=right| New | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | German Peace Union | align=right| 587 | align=right| 0.01 | align=right| New | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Justice Party | align=right| 172 | align=right| 0.00 | align=right| New | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- ! align=right colspan=2| Total ! align=right| 4,750,637 ! align=right| 99.00 ! align=right| ! align=right| 120 ! align=right| 7 ! align=right| |- ! align=right colspan=2| Invalid votes ! align=right| 48,138 ! align=right| 1.00 ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right| |- ! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout ! align=right| 4,798,775 ! align=right| 80.00 ! align=right| 9.25 ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right|
References