2015 Hamburg state election

The 2015 Hamburg state election was held on 15 February 2015 to elect the members of the 21st Hamburg Parliament. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) government led by First Mayor Olaf Scholz lost its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a coalition government with The Greens, and Scholz continued in office.

2015 Hamburg state election

← 2011 15 February 2015[1] 2020 →
All 121 seats in the Hamburg Parliament 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	3,530,097 (56.5%) 0.8%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Olaf Scholz Dietrich Wersich Katharina Fegebank Party SPD CDU Greens Last election 62 seats, 48.4% 28 seats, 21.9% 14 seats, 11.2% Seats won 58 20 15 Seat change 4 8 1 Popular vote 1,611,274 561,377 432,713 Percentage 45.6% 15.9% 12.3% Swing 2.8% 6.0% 1.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Dora Heyenn Katja Suding Jörn Kruse Party Left FDP AfD Last election 8 seats, 6.4% 9 seats, 6.7% Did not exist Seats won 11 9 8 Seat change 3 0 8 Popular vote 300,567 262,157 214,833 Percentage 8.5% 7.4% 6.1% Swing 2.1% 0.7% New party
Mayor before election Olaf Scholz SPD Elected Mayor Olaf Scholz SPD

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 20th Hamburg Parliament.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2011 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Olaf Scholz	48.42%	62 / 121
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Dietrich Wersich	21.88%	28 / 121
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Katharina Fegebank	11.16%	14 / 121
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Katja Suding	6.65%	9 / 121
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	Dora Heyenn	6.40%	8 / 121

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	Grüne	FDP	Linke	AfD	Others	Lead
2015 state election	15 Feb 2015	–	45.6	15.9	12.3	7.4	8.5	6.1	4.2	29.7
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	11–12 Feb 2015	1,113	47	17	12	6	8.5	5	4.5	30
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	3–5 Feb 2015	1,176	45	19	11	6	9.5	5	4.5	26
Infratest dimap	3–4 Feb 2015	1,001	46	18	11	5.5	9	5.5	5	28
Infratest dimap	23–27 Jan 2015	1,000	44	20	13	5	9	6	3	24
Universität Hamburg	5–21 Jan 2015	235	44.6	22.6	14.9	2.8	9.1	2.9	3.2	22.0
INSA	7–13 Jan 2015	1,000	42	23	14	4	7	6	4	19
Infratest dimap	9–12 Jan 2015	1,000	43	22	14	4	8	5	4	21
Universität Hamburg	5 Nov–23 Dec 2014	511	39.7	20.6	21.8	2.8	8.9	3.2	3.0	19.1
mafo.de	15 Dec 2014	500	42	22	14	2	8	6	6	20
Infratest dimap	5–9 Dec 2014	1,005	43	24	14	2	9	4	4	19
GESS	24 Oct–3 Nov 2014	1,002	45	27	11	2	7	4	4	18
mafo.de	9 May 2014	500	38.5	22.6	13.7	2.9	7.8	5.8	8.7	15.9
GESS	27 Jan–4 Feb 2014	1,003	48	24	11	3	8	?	?	24
Infratest dimap	9–13 Jan 2014	1,000	42	25	13	5	9	3	3	17
Universität Hamburg	8 May–24 Jun 2013	636	43	21	18	4	8	–	2	22
GESS	29 Jan–4 Feb 2013	1,003	51	23	13	2	4	–	5	28
Universität Hamburg	16 Apr–3 Aug 2012	468	42.0	20.8	21.5	4.4	4.5	–	6.9	21.2
GESS	7–14 Feb 2012	1,006	52	21	12	2	5	–	?	31
Infratest dimap	13–18 Jan 2012	1,000	51	20	14	3	4	–	8	31
YouGov	21 Nov–2 Dec 2011	1,031	44	21	13	3	7	–	12	23
Psephos	1–9 Jun 2011	1,003	47	20	14	7	7	–	5	27
2011 state election	20 Feb 2011	–	48.4	21.9	11.2	6.7	6.4	–	5.5	26.5

Election result

Summary of the 15 February 2015 election results for the Hamburg Parliament

Party		Statewide list			Constituency list			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1,611,274	45.64	23	1,440,847	41.02	35	58	4
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	561,377	15.90	2	690,479	19.66	18	20	8
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	432,713	12.26	2	515,900	14.69	13	15	1
	The Left (Linke)	300,567	8.51	7	325,909	9.28	4	11	3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	262,157	7.43	8	222,736	6.34	1	9	0
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	214,833	6.09	8	217,144	6.18	0	8	New
	Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)	54,802	1.55	0	65,358	1.86	0	0	0
	Die PARTEI	31,710	0.90	0	5,278	0.15	0	0	0
	New Liberals	18,464	0.52	0				0	New
	Ecological Democratic Party	13,621	0.39	0	3,140	0.09	0	0	0
	National Democratic Party	11,293	0.32	0	9,542	0.27	0	0	0
	Pensioners Party	9,937	0.28	0				0	0
	Hamburg Citizens' List	7,349	0.21	0				0	New
	Independents[a]				6,773	0.19	0	0	0
	Citizens' Participation				3,174	0.09	0	0	New
	HaraAlt				2,107	0.06	0	0	New
	Human Economics Party				1,448	0.04	0	0	0
	Social Politics				1,161	0.03	0	0	New
	Why Not!				1,131	0.03	0	0	New
Total		3,530,097	100.00	50	3,512,127	100.00	71	121	–
Valid votes		3,530,097	99.42		3,512,127	99.41
Invalid/blank votes		20,648	0.58		20,854	0.59
Total votes		3,550,745	100.00		3,532,981	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			56.5			56.5		0.8
Source:

Popular Vote SPD   45.64% CDU   15.90% B'90/GRÜNE   12.26% DIE LINKE   8.51% FDP   7.43% AfD   6.09% PIRATEN   1.55% Other   2.62%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   47.93% CDU   16.53% B'90/GRÜNE   12.40% DIE LINKE   9.09% FDP   7.44% AfD   6.61%

See also

• Elections in Hamburg
• Hamburg state elections in the Weimar Republic

Notes

1. Walter Scheuerl