1995 Bremen state election

The 1995 Bremen state election was held on 14 May 1995 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The incumbent coalition was a traffic light coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Mayor Klaus Wedemeier. The coalition was defeated as the FDP lost its representation in the Bürgerschaft. The SPD narrowly remained the most popular party, though they tied with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in number of seats won. The major winner of the election was Labour for Bremen and Bremerhaven (AFB), a splinter from the SPD formed in January 1995 which espoused economic liberalism. The party entered the Bürgerschaft with 10.7% of votes cast and 12 seats.

1995 Bremen state election

14 May 1995
All 100 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen 51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	344,440 (68.6%) 3.6%
First party Second party   Leader Klaus Wedemeier Ulrich Nölle Party SPD CDU Last election 41 seats, 38.8% 32 seats, 30.7% Seats won 37 37 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 115,001 112,301 Percentage 33.4% 32.6% Swing 5.4% 1.9%   Third party Fourth party   Party Green AFB Last election 11 seats, 11.4% Did not exist Seats won 14 12 Seat change 3 12 Popular vote 44,977 36,735 Percentage 13.1% 10.7% Swing 1.7% New party
Mayor before election Klaus Wedemeier SPD Elected Mayor Henning Scherf SPD

After the election, Mayor Wedemeier resigned. The SPD and CDU subsequently formed a grand coalition under new SPD Mayor Henning Scherf.

Parties

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

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1991 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Klaus Wedemeier	38.8%	41 / 100
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Ulrich Nölle	30.7%	32 / 100
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		11.4%	11 / 100
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism		9.5%	10 / 100
	DVU	German People's Union Deutsche Volksunion	German nationalism		6.2%	6 / 100

Election result

Summary of the 14 May 1995 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	115,001	33.4	5.4	37	4	37.0
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	112,301	32.6	1.9	37	5	37.0
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	44,977	13.1	1.7	14	3	14.0
	Labour for Bremen and Bremerhaven (AFB)	36,735	10.7	New	12	New	12.0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	11,607	3.4	6.1	0	10	0
	German People's Union (DVU)	8,503	2.5	3.7	0	6	0
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	8,174	2.4	2.4	0	±0	0
	Others	7,142	2.1		0	±0	0
Total		344,440	100.0		100	±0
Voter turnout			68.6	3.6

Popular Vote SPD   33.39% CDU   32.60% B'90/GRÜNE   13.06% AFB   10.67% FDP   3.37% DVU   2.47% PDS   2.37% Other   2.07%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   37.00% CDU   37.00% B'90/GRÜNE   14.00% AFB   12.00%

References

• Bürgerschaft Bremen seit 1945