West German federal election, 1965

Election for the 5th German Federal Diet

19 September 1965 (1965-09-19)
All 518 seats in the Bundestag 260 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	86.8% (voting eligible)
First party Second party Third party   150x150px Leader Ludwig Erhard Willy Brandt Erich Mende Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Seats before 251 203 67 Seats won 251 217 50 Seat change 14 17 Popular vote 15,524,068 12,813,186 3,096,739 Percentage 47.6% 39.3% 9.5% Swing 2.2% 3.1% 3.3%
Party list election results by state: the lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes; darker blue denotes states where CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; and pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes
Chancellor before election Ludwig Erhard CDU/CSU Elected Chancellor Ludwig Erhard CDU/CSU

Seat results -- SPD in red, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 September 1965. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, while the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 202 of the 496 seats (as well as 15 of the 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin).

Campaign

Federal Chancellor Ludwig Erhard was initially popular as the acclaimed "father" of West Germany's economic miracle of the 1950s and early 1960s. West Germany's economy still seemed solid in 1965, and thus not enough West German voters wanted to change the party of Federal Chancellor. To ensure his victory in this Bundestag election, Erhard promised to cut income tax and to increase social program spending.

Results

 Summary of the 19 September 1965 German Bundestag election results

Parties		Constituency					Party list					Total seats
		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Seats	+/−	%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	12,998,474	40.1	+3.6	94	+3	12,813,186	39.3	+3.1	108	+9	217	+14	41.9
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	12,631,319	38.9	+2.6	118	+4	12,387,562	38.0	+2.2	78	±0	202	+1	39.0
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	3,204,648	9.9	+0.2	36	−6	3,136,506	9.6	±0	13	+5	49	−1	9.5
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	2,562,294	7.9	−4.2	0	±0	3,096,739	9.5	−3.3	49	−18	50	−17	9.7
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	587,216	1.8	+1.8	0	±0	664,193	2.0	+2.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	German Peace Union (DFU)	386,900	1.2	−0.6	0	±0	434,182	1.3	−0.6	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Action Community of Independent Germans (AUD)	46,146	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	52,637	0.2	+0.2	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Christian People's Party (CVP)	11,978	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	19,832	0.1	+0.1	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Free Social Union (FSU)	6,287	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	10,631	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Independent Workers' Party (UAP)	1,127	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	3,959	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	European Federalist Party (EFP)	–	–	–	–	–	1,015	0.0	+0.0	0	±0	0	±0	0
	Electoral groups and independents	660	0.0	±0	0	±0	–	–	–	–	–	0	±0	0
Invalid/blank votes		979,158	—	—	—	—	795,765	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Totals		33,416,207	100	±0.0	248	+1	33,416,207	100	±0.0	248	-4	518	-3	±0
Registered voters/turnout		38,510,395	86.8	—	—	—	38,510,395	86.8	—	—	—	—	—	—
Source: Federal Returning Officer

^† — includes the non-voting delegates for West Berlin (15 SPD, 6 CDU, 1 FDP).

↓

251	217	50
CDU/CSU	SPD	FDP

Popular Vote
CDU/CSU			47.59%
SPD			39.28%
FDP			9.49%
NPD			2.04%
DFU			1.33%
Other			0.27%

Bundestag seats
CDU/CSU			49.40%
SPD			40.73%
FDP			9.88%

Aftermath

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor. In 1966, the FDP left the coalition over budget issues, and Erhard resigned. Kurt Georg Kiesinger (also CDU) formed a new grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD which lasted until the next election.