2004 Hamburg state election

The 2004 Hamburg state election was held on 29 February 2004 to elect the members of the 18th Hamburg Parliament. The election was triggered by the collapse of the coalition government between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (PRO), and Free Democratic Party (FDP). The election saw a collapse in support for PRO which had split after its leader Ronald Schill left in 2003. The original party and Schill's new party captured 3.5% of the vote between them, down from 19.4% in 2001. A huge amount of support flowed to the CDU, which won 63 of the 121 seats in Parliament, forming a majority government. First Mayor Ole von Beust continued in office.[1]

2004 Hamburg state election
29 February 2004
All 121 seats in the Hamburg Parliament
61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout824,317 (68.7%)
2.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ole von Beust Thomas Mirow
Party CDU SPD Green
Last election 33 seats, 26.2% 46 seats, 36.5% 11 seats, 8.6%
Seats won 63 41 17
Seat change 30 5 6
Popular vote 389,170 251,441 101,227
Percentage 47.2% 30.5% 12.3%
Swing 21.0% 6.0% 3.7%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Mario Mettbach
Party FDP PRO
Last election 6 seats, 5.1% 25 seats, 19.4%
Seats won 0 0
Seat change 6 25
Popular vote 23,373 3,046
Percentage 2.8% 0.4%
Swing 2.3% 19.0%
Mayor before election

Ole von Beust
CDU

 Elected Mayor

Ole von Beust
CDU

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 17th Hamburg Parliament.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2001 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Thomas Mirow 36.5%
46 / 121
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Ole von Beust 26.2%
33 / 121
PRO Party for a Rule of Law Offensive
Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive		 Right-wing populism Mario Mettbach 19.4%
25 / 121
GAL Green Alternative List
Grün-Alternative-Liste Hamburg		 Green politics 8.6%
11 / 121
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 Classical liberalism 5.1%
6 / 121

Background

In August 2003, Mayor von Beust made moves to dismiss an Interior official suspected of corruption. In response, Senator of the Interior Ronald Schill threatened to spread rumours of an affair between von Beust and the Senator of Justice. Schill was subsequently dismissed from the government. In December of the same year, Schill left his own party along with five of its members of Parliament, depriving the government of its majority. He subsequently joined Pro DM.[2]

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 SPD CDU PRO GAL FDP ProDM Others Lead
2004 state election 29 Feb 2004 – 30.5 47.2 0.4 12.3 2.8 3.1 3.7 16.7
Emnid 20–26 Feb 2004 1,009 30 44 1 14 4 4 3 14
Emnid 24 Feb 2004 1,000 30 46 1 13 3 3 4 16
Forsa 18–23 Feb 2004 1,005 29 45 1 14 4 3 4 16
Psephos 19–22 Feb 2004 1,003 30 46 1 12 3.5 3.5 4 16
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 16–19 Feb 2004 1,008 29 47 – 13 4 3 4 18
Infratest dimap 12–16 Feb 2004 1,000 29 45 1 14 4 4 3 16
Forsa 10–14 Feb 2004 1,002 30 45 1 14 4 3 3 15
Forsa 6–9 Feb 2004 804 29 46 1 14 4 3 3 17
Infratest dimap 28 Jan–1 Feb 2004 1,000 30 45 1 15 3 3 3 15
Forsa 20–24 Jan 2004 1,001 28 48 1 13 4 3 3 20
Emnid 19 Jan 2004 1,000 31 46 2 12 4 2 3 15
Infratest dimap 8–12 Jan 2004 1,000 30 45 1 13 4 4 3 15
Psephos 9 Jan 2004 1,002 30 47 2 11 2 4 4 17
Forsa 17 Dec 2003 ? 31 46 3 13 4 – 3 15
Infratest 10–11 Dec 2003 1,000 33 43 4 12 4 – 4 10
Emnid 10 Dec 2003 1,000 37 43 2 12 4 – 2 6
Psephos 9–10 Dec 2003 808 36 41 5 11 3 – 4 5
Infratest dimap 8–9 Dec 2003 1,000 35 40 5 13 4 – 3 5
Emnid 2–3 Dec 2003 1,000 35 41 5 13 3 – 3 6
Psephos 10 Oct 2003 ? 37 39 6 10 4 – 4 2
Infratest dimap 5–9 Sep 2003 1,000 36 39 5 13 4 – 3 3
Psephos 23 Aug 2003 731 36 40 6 10 5 – 3 4
NFO Infratest 20–21 Aug 2003 ~1,000 37 40 5 11 4 – 3 3
Emnid 20 Aug 2003 1,002 35 38 6 13 5 – 3 3
Emnid 4–5 Feb 2003 1,000 26 42 12 13 5 – 2 16
Psephos 25 Oct 2002 1,003 36 34 8 13 5 – 4 2
Emnid 7 Feb 2002 ? 37 32 12 9 6 – 4 5
Emnid 2–4 Feb 2002 1,008 40 32 10 11 4 – 3 8
Psephos 2 Feb 2002 1,003 36 32 14 9 5 – 4 4
Forsa 22–23 Jan 2002 1,001 35 31 15 10 4 – 5 4
2001 state election 23 Sep 2001 – 36.5 26.2 19.4 8.6 5.1 0.2 4.0 10.3

Election result

Summary of the 29 February 2004 election results for the Hamburg Parliament

Party Votes % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 389,170 47.2 21.0 63 30 52.1
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 251,441 30.5 6.0 41 5 33.9
Green Alternative List (GAL) 101,227 12.3 3.7 17 6 14.0
Pro Deutsche Mitte – Initiative Pro D-Mark (Pro DM) 25,763 3.1 2.9 0 ±0 0
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 23,373 2.8 2.3 0 6 0
Rainbow – For a new left (REGENBOGEN) 9,200 1.1 0.6 0 ±0 0
The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUEN) 8,878 1.1 1.1 0 ±0 0
Others 15,265 1.9 0 25 0
Total 824,317 100.0 121 ±0
Voter turnout 68.7 2.4
Popular Vote
CDU
 
 47.21%
SPD
 
 30.50%
GAL
 
 12.28%
PRO DM
 
 3.13%
FDP
 
 2.84%
Other
 
 4.04%
Bürgerschaft seats
CDU
 
 52.07%
SPD
 
 33.88%
GAL
 
 14.05%

See also

References
  1. Mayor von Beust to govern alone after victory in Hamburg election, Deutsche Welle, 2004, retrieved 2008-08-13
  2. "A scandal in Germany". European press review. bbc.co.uk. 2003-08-21. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
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