2017 Lower Saxony state election

2017 Lower Saxony state election

← 2013 15 October 2017 2022 →

All 137 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
69 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,828,003 (63.1%)
Increase 3.7%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Stephan Weil Bernd Althusmann Anja Piel
Party SPD CDU Greens
Last election 49 seats, 32.6% 54 seats, 36.0% 20 seats, 13.7%
Seats won 55 50 12
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 4 Decrease 8
Popular vote 1,413,990 1,287,191 334,130
Percentage 36.9% 33.6% 8.7%
Swing Increase 4.3% Decrease 2.4% Decrease 5.0%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Stefan Birkner Dana Guth
Party FDP AfD
Last election 14 seats, 9.9% Did not exist
Seats won 11 9
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 9
Popular vote 287,957 235,863
Percentage 7.5% 6.2%
Swing Decrease 2.4% Did not exist

Results for the single-member constituencies

Government before election

First Weil cabinet
SPDGreen

Government after election

Second Weil cabinet
SPDCDU

The 2017 Lower Saxony state election was held on 15 October 2017 to elect the 18th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Stephan Weil was defeated. Though the SPD became the largest party in the Landtag largely fueled by the personal popularity of Weil, their gains were offset by losses for the Greens, depriving the government of its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Weil continued as Minister-President.

This was the last election, state or federal, in which the SPD gained seats or increased their share of the popular vote until the 2021 German federal election and 2021 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election which both took place on the same day in September 2021.