2011 Bremen state election

The 2011 Bremen state election was held on 22 May 2011 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven.[1][2] The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens was re-elected with an increased majority. The Greens became the second-largest party in a state legislature for the second time after the 2011 Baden-Württemberg state election on 27 March.[3][4]

2011 Bremen state election

← 2007 22 May 2011 2015 →

All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen
42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,309,355 (55.5%)
Decrease 2.1%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jens Böhrnsen Karoline Linnert Rita Mohr-Lüllmann
Party SPD Greens CDU
Last election 32 seats, 36.7% 14 seats, 16.5% 23 seats, 25.6%
Seats won 36 21 20
Seat change Increase 4 Increase 7 Decrease 3
Popular vote 505,348 293,993 266,483
Percentage 38.6% 22.5% 20.4%
Swing Increase 1.9% Increase 6.0% Decrease 5.2%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Kristina Vogt Jan Timke Oliver Möllenstädt
Party Left Citizens in Rage FDP
Last election 7 seats, 8.4% 1 seat, 0.8% 5 seats, 6.0%
Seats won 5 1 0
Seat change Decrease 2 Steady 0 Decrease 5
Popular vote 73,769 48,530 31,176
Percentage 5.6% 3.7% 2.4%
Swing Decrease 2.8% Increase 2.9% Decrease 3.6%

Mayor before election

Jens Böhrnsen
SPD

Elected Mayor

Jens Böhrnsen
SPD

Sixteen and seventeen year olds were able to vote for the first time in this election.[5] A reform to the electoral system came into effect in this election, based on an open list system, with each voter having five votes to distribute freely between parties and candidates.[5]

Parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the previous Bürgerschaft of Bremen.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2007 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Jens Böhrnsen 36.7%
32 / 83
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Rita Mohr-Lüllmann 25.6%
23 / 83
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Green politics Karoline Linnert 16.5%
14 / 83
Linke The Left
Die Linke
Democratic socialism Kristina Vogt 8.4%
7 / 83
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Oliver Möllenstädt 6.0%
5 / 83
NPD National Democratic Party of Germany
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Neo-Nazism 2.7%[a]
1 / 83
BiW Citizens in Rage
Bürger in Wut
Right-wing populism Jan Timke 0.8%
1 / 83

Opinion polling

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
SPD CDU Grüne Linke FDP BiW Others Lead
2011 state election 22 May 2011 38.6 20.4 22.5 5.6 2.4 3.7 6.9 16.1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 10–12 May 2011 1,037 37 19 24 6 4 7 13
Infratest dimap 10–12 May 2011 1,001 36 20 24 7 3 3 7 12
Emnid 20–28 Apr 2011 1,004 37 22 24 7 4 6 13
Forsa Jan–Feb 2011 1,308 38 23 22 7 4 6 15
Konkret Marktforschung 17–19 Dec 2010 500 33.4 22.8 19.4 8.5 3.3 5.5 7.1 10.6
Emnid 12–17 Feb 2010 1,000 35 25 17 11 5 7 10
2007 state election 13 May 2007 36.7 25.6 16.5 8.4 6.0 0.8 5.9 11.1

Election result

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Summary of the 22 May 2011 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen
 
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
BremenBremerhavenTotal Seats+/-
Social Democratic Party (SPD)505,34838.60+1.930636+4
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)293,99322.46+6.017421+7
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)266,48320.35-5.216420-3
The Left (Linke)73,7695.63-2.8505-2
Citizens in Rage (BiW)48,5303.71+2.9011±0
Free Democratic Party (FDP)31,1762.38-3.6000-5
Pirate Party (Piraten)24,9351.90+1.9000±0
National Democratic Party (NDP)20,4701.56-1.1000±0
Others44,5413.40000±0
Total1,309,245100.006815830
Popular Vote
SPD
38.60%
B'90/GRÜNE
22.45%
CDU
20.35%
DIE LINKE
5.63%
BiW
3.71%
FDP
2.38%
Other
6.88%
Bürgerschaft seats
SPD
43.37%
B'90/GRÜNE
25.30%
CDU
24.10%
DIE LINKE
6.02%
BiW
1.20%

Notes

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  1. ^ Results for the German People's Union, which merged with the NPD in January 2011.

References

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  1. ^ "SPD and Greens set for power in Hamburg". The Local. February 13, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  2. ^ "Wahlen". Bremen. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  3. ^ "Rot-Grün – das ist die neue große Koalition". Die Welt. May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  4. ^ "Ergebnisse der Bürgerschaftswahlen in Bremen".
  5. ^ a b "Wahlen". Weser Kurier. February 4, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.