1970 Hessian state election

1970 Hessian state election

← 1966 8 November 1970 1974 →

All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,171,227 (82.8% Increase 1.9pp)
  First party Second party
 
Albert Osswald.jpg
KAS-Dregger, Alfred-Bild-5037-1.jpg
Candidate Albert Osswald Alfred Dregger
Party SPD CDU
Last election 52 seats, 51.0% 26 seats, 26.4%
Seats won 53 46
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 20
Popular vote 1,442,201 1,248,543
Percentage 45.9% 39.7%
Swing Decrease 5.1pp Increase 13.4pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F052015-0020, Kiel, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry.jpg
Candidate Heinz-Herbert Karry
Party FDP NPD
Last election 10 seats, 10.4% 8 seats, 7.9%
Seats won 11 0
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 8
Popular vote 316,270 94,531
Percentage 10.1% 3.0%
Swing Decrease 0.3pp Decrease 4.9pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

First Osswald cabinet
SPD

Government after election

Second Osswald cabinet
SPDFDP

The 1970 Hessian state election was held on 8 November 1970 to elect the 7th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Albert Osswald.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had taken a hard line against the SPD under new leader Alfred Dregger, recorded a major swing of 13 percentage points in its favour, to the detriment of the SPD and National Democratic Party, the latter losing all its seats after a single term in the Landtag. The SPD remained the largest party with 46%, and subsequently formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party, following in the footsteps of the federal government formed the previous year.