2023 Bremen state election

2023 Bremen state election

← 2019 14 May 2023 (2023-05-14) 2027 →

All 87 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen
44 seats needed for a majority
Registered460,778
Turnout262,099 (56.9%)
Decrease 7.2pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
2023-05-14 Wahlabend Bremen by Sandro Halank–052.jpg
2023-05-14 Wahlabend Bremen by Sandro Halank–087.jpg
2023-05-14 Wahlabend Bremen by Sandro Halank–049.jpg
Candidate Andreas Bovenschulte Frank Imhoff Maike Schaefer
Party SPD CDU Greens
Last election 23 seats, 24.9% 24 seats, 26.7% 16 seats, 17.4%
Seats won 27 24 11
Seat change Increase 4 Steady 0 Decrease 5
Popular vote 376,610 331,380 150,263
Percentage 29.8% 26.2% 11.9%
Swing Increase 4.9pp Decrease 0.4pp Decrease 5.5pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
2023-05-14 Wahlabend Bremen by Sandro Halank–112.jpg
2023-05-14 Wahlabend Bremen by Sandro Halank–105.jpg
2023-05-14 Wahlabend Bremen by Sandro Halank–043.jpg
Candidate Kristina Vogt Piet Leidreiter Thore Schäck
Party Left BIW FDP
Last election 10 seats, 11.3% 1 seat, 2.4% 5 seats, 5.9%
Seats won 10 10 5
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 9 Steady 0
Popular vote 137,676 118,695 64,155
Percentage 10.9% 9.4% 5.1%
Swing Decrease 0.4pp Increase 7.0pp Decrease 0.9pp

Results by polling precinct. Note: the results in the precincts coloured white have not been added to the map.

Government before election

First Bovenschulte senate
SPDGreenLeft

Government after election

Second Bovenschulte senate
SPDGreenLeft

The 2023 Bremen state election was held on 14 May 2023 to elect the 21st Bürgerschaft of Bremen. Elections to the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven, the two municipal entities comprising the state of Bremen, were held simultaneously.[1] The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens, and The Left led by Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte.

With 30% of the vote, the SPD emerged as the largest party on a modest swing. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained steady on 26% but fell to second place. The Greens suffered a significant decline to 12%, while The Left repeated its 2019 performance of 11%. The right-wing Citizens in Rage (BiW) achieved their best-ever result with 9.4%, benefitting from the absence of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), who were disqualified from running due to internal party disputes. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) narrowly retained their seats with 5.1%.[2][3]

On 25 June, the incumbent governing coalition announced that they would renew their cooperation, forming the Second Bovenschulte senate.

  1. ^ "State and local elections in the state of Bremen". Elections Bremen (in German). Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. ^ "German Greens suffer setback in Bremen local election". The Guardian. 15 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Scholz's Social Democrats win Bremen state vote, Greens slump". Reuters. 15 May 2023.