February 20, 2011 2015 → 62 28 17 28 | Turnout 57.3 28 14 28 2 | |
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On February 20, 2011, a state election was held in Hamburg, Germany, for the 20th legislative period of the Hamburg Parliament after World War II. The election is a result of the collapse of the coalition government led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Green Alternative List (GAL). The Hamburg Parliament was officially dissolved on December 15, 2010. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) won an absolute majority after winning 62 seats. Absolute majorities are considered rare in Germany. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) re-entered parliament after failing to win any seats in the previous election.
Contents
Annkathrin Kammeyer's election made her the youngest member of the Hamburg Parliament in history, at 21 years of age.
Collapse
The relationship between the Christian Democratic Union and the Green Alternative List has been strained since the former Mayor Ole von Beust announced he was stepping down in July. Von Beust was a popular mayor and was seen as the guarantor for the coalition government. The CDU/Green party coalition was the first coalition government between the two parties in Germany. Christoph Ahlhaus was chosen as the mayor. Since Ahlhaus became mayor, there were many conflicts which were intensifying. Ahlhaus had been critical of the GAL on several occasions.
Post-election
Post election analysis showed that the election result was strongly dominated by local issues (82% of voters according to Forschungsgruppe Wahlen).