1953 West German federal election

1953 West German federal election

← 1949 6 September 1953 (1953-09-06) 1957 →
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All 487 seats in the Bundestag[a] 244 seats needed for a majority
Registered	33,120,940 ( 6.1%)
Turnout	86.0% ( 7.5pp)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Konrad Adenauer Erich Ollenhauer Franz Blücher Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Last election 31.0%, 139 seats 29.2%, 131 seats 11.9%, 52 seats Seats won 243[b] 151[c] 48[d] Seat change 104 20 4 Popular vote 12,443,981 7,944,943 2,629,163 Percentage 45.2% 28.8% 9.5% Swing 14.2 pp 0.4 pp 2.4 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Candidate Waldemar Kraft Heinrich Hellwege Johannes Brockmann Party GB/BHE DP Centre Last election Did not exist 4.0%, 17 seats 3.1%, 10 seats Seats won 27 15 3 Seat change New party 2 7 Popular vote 1,616,953 896,128 217,078 Percentage 5.9% 3.3% 0.8% Swing New party 0.7 pp 2.3 pp
Results for the single-member constituencies. Results for the list vote by single-member constituency.
Government before election First Adenauer cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP–DP Government after election Second Adenauer cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP–GB/BHE–DP

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 6 September 1953 to elect the members of the second Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged as the largest party.

This elections were the last before Saarland joined West Germany in 1957. It had been a separate entity, Saar protectorate, under French control since 1946.

The CDU/CSU formed a center-right coalition government with the FDP, DP and GB/BHE, leaving the SPD as the main opposition.^[1] In comparison to the 1949 election where ten parties won seats, only six parties won seats in the 1953 election, thus entailing a consolidation of the party system.^[1]

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