2022 Lower Saxony state election

2022 Lower Saxony state election

← 2017 9 October 2022 Next →

All 146 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony, including 11 overhang and leveling seats
74 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,657,881 (60.3%)
Decrease 2.8 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Stephan Weil Bernd Althusmann Julia Hamburg & Christian Meyer
Party SPD CDU Greens
Last election 55 seats, 36.9% 50 seats, 33.6% 12 seats, 8.7%
Seats won 57 47 24
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 3 Increase 12
Popular vote 1,211,418 1,017,276 526,923
Percentage 33.4% 28.1% 14.5%
Swing Decrease 3.5% Decrease 5.5% Increase 5.8%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Stefan Marzischewski-Drewes [de] Stefan Birkner
Party AfD FDP
Last election 9 seats, 6.2% 11 seats, 7.5%
Seats won 18 0
Seat change Increase 9 Decrease 11
Popular vote 396,839 170,298
Percentage 11.0% 4.7%
Swing Increase 4.8% Decrease 2.8%

Map of the election, showing the winner of each single-member district and the distribution of list seats.

Government before election

Second Weil cabinet
SPDCDU

Government after election

Third Weil cabinet
SPDGreen

The 2022 Lower Saxony state election was held on 9 October 2022 to elect the 19th Landtag of Lower Saxony.[1] The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) led by Minister-President Stephan Weil.

The SPD remained the largest party with 33% and gained two seats, despite a decline of 3.5 percentage points. The CDU suffered a larger loss and won 28%. Alliance 90/The Greens recorded their best result to date in the state, taking 14.5% on a swing of six points. Alternative for Germany (AfD) made gains for the first time in any election since October 2019, improving to 11%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell just short of the 5% electoral threshold and lost representation.

Amidst an ongoing energy crisis and looming recession, commentators described the result as a victory for the incumbent federal SPD government of Olaf Scholz, who had suffered a decline in popularity and recent losses in other state elections.[2]

Minister-President Weil ruled out continuing government with the CDU and formed a new coalition with the Greens. He was re-elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 8 November, and his cabinet was sworn in the same day.[3]

  1. ^ "Nächste Landtagswahl in Niedersachsen". Lower Saxony Landtag. Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  2. ^ "Germany: Lower Saxony election a boost for Chancellor Olaf Scholz". Deutsche Welle. 9 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Stephan Weil re-elected as Minister-President". Die Zeit (in German). 8 November 2022.