2001 Hamburg state election

The 2001 Hamburg state election was held on 23 September 2001 to elect the members of the 17th Hamburg Parliament. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Green Alternative List (GAL) led by First Mayor Ortwin Runde was defeated, ending 44 years of uninterrupted SPD rule in the city-state.

2001 Hamburg state election

← 1997 23 September 2001 2004 →
All 121 seats in the Hamburg Parliament 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	850,668 (71.1%) 2.4%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ortwin Runde Ole von Beust Ronald Schill Party SPD CDU Schill Last election 54 seats, 36.2% 46 seats, 30.7% Did not exist Seats won 46 33 25 Seat change 8 13 25 Popular vote 310,362 223,015 165,421 Percentage 36.5% 26.2% 19.4% Swing 0.3% 4.5% New party   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Greens FDP Last election 21 seats, 13.9% 0 seats, 3.5% Seats won 11 6 Seat change 5[a] 6 Popular vote 72,771 43,214 Percentage 8.6% 5.1% Swing 5.3% 1.6%
Mayor before election Ortwin Runde SPD Elected Mayor Ole von Beust CDU

The most significant change of the election was the entry of the Party for a Rule of Law Offensive ("Schill party") led by Ronald Schill into Parliament with 19.4% of the vote and 25 seats. This can partly be attributed to the general feeling of insecurity due to the September 11 attacks less than two weeks earlier, especially since three of the terrorists involved, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, had been members of the Hamburg cell.^[1][2]

Five Green members of parliament left the party in 1999 in protest over the federal government's (at the time also an SPD-Green coalition) participation in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. They formed Rainbow – For a New Left. However, the list only received 1.7% of the vote in this election and lost all five seats.

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) also re-entered Parliament. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) subsequently formed a coalition with the Schill party and FDP, and CDU leader Ole von Beust was elected as First Mayor.^[3]

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 16th Hamburg Parliament.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1997 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Ortwin Runde	36.2%	54 / 121
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Ole von Beust	30.7%	46 / 121
	GAL	Green Alternative List Grün-Alternative-Liste Hamburg	Green politics		13.9%	21 / 121

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	GAL	FDP	Schill	Rainbow	Others	Lead
2001 state election	23 Sep 2001	–	36.5	26.2	8.6	5.1	19.4	1.7	2.5	10.3
Forsa	13–17 Sep 2001	1,041	36	28	11	5	14	3	3	8
Emnid	12 Sep 2001	?	34	30	10	6	14	–	6	4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	8 Sep 2001	?	36	27	12	7	14	2	2	9
Infratest dimap	3–8 Sep 2001	?	35	28	9	5	16	2	5	7
Infratest dimap	27 Aug–2 Sep 2001	1,000	35	28	10	7	14	2	4	7
Forsa	22–27 Aug 2001	1,007	34	28	10	5	15	3	5	6
Infratest dimap	6–11 Aug 2001	1,000	35	30	10	7	12	1	5	5
Infratest dimap	12 Jul 2001	?	35	29	11	8	10	1	5	6
Forsa	26 Jun–2 Jul 2001	1,050	37	31	9	5	9	–	9	6
Infratest dimap	5–10 Jun 2001	1,002	35	31	11	6	9	–	5	4
Forsa	2–7 May 2001	1,008	34	33	12	5	8	1	7	1
Forsa	March 2001	1,002	36	31	13	4	8	2	6	5
Psephos	1–2 Feb 2001	1,007	36	32	13	3	9	–	7	4
Infratest dimap	27–29 Nov 2000	1,000	37	30	12	5	6	–	10	7
Psephos	24–25 May 2000	1,004	38	33	11	6	3	–	9	5
Psephos	7–9 Sep 1999	1,000	35	44	11	4	–	–	6	9
Infratest dimap	7–9 Sep 1999	1,000	37	42	9	3	–	–	9	5
1997 state election	21 Sep 1997	–	36.2	30.7	13.9	3.5	–	–	15.7	5.5

Election result

Summary of the 23 September 2001 election results for the Hamburg Parliament

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	310,362	36.5	0.3	46	8	38.0
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	223,015	26.2	4.5	33	13	27.3
	Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Schill)	165,421	19.4	New	25	New	20.7
	Green Alternative List (GAL)	72,771	8.6	5.3	11	5	9.1
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	43,214	5.1	1.6	6	6	5.0
	Rainbow – For a new left (REGENBOGEN)	14,247	1.7	New	0	5	0
	Others	21,638	2.5		0	±0	0
Total		850,668	100.0		121	±0
Voter turnout			71.1	2.4

Popular Vote SPD   36.48% CDU   26.22% SCHILL   19.45% GAL   8.55% FDP   5.08% Other   4.22%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   38.02% CDU   27.27% SCHILL   20.66% GAL   9.09% FDP   4.96%

See also

• Hamburg state elections in the Weimar Republic

Notes

1. Five Green MPs had previously left the party in 1999.