Federal elections were held in West Germany on 5 October 1980 to elect the members of the 9th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU remained the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

Quick Facts All 497 seats in the Bundestag 249 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...

1980 West German federal election

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All 497 seats in the Bundestag[lower-alpha 1] 249 seats needed for a majority
Registered	43,231,741 2.8%
Turnout	38,292,176 (88.6%) 2.1pp
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Franz-Josef Strauss Helmut Schmidt Hans-Dietrich Genscher Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Last election 48.6%, 243 seats 42.6%, 214 seats 7.9%, 39 seats Seats won 226[lower-alpha 2] 218[lower-alpha 3] 53[lower-alpha 4] Seat change 17 4 14 Popular vote 16,897,659 16,260,677 4,030,999 Percentage 44.5% 42.9% 10.6% Swing 4.1pp 0.3pp 2.7pp
The left side shows the winning party vote in the constituencies, the right side shows the seats won by parties in each of the states. The pie chart over West Berlin shows the partisan composition of its legislature.
Government before election Second Schmidt cabinet SPD–FDP Government after election Third Schmidt cabinet SPD–FDP

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Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of the SPD-FDP coalition wanted to be re-elected. The CDU/CSU tried to make their candidate the elected Chancellor, CSU leader Franz Josef Strauß. It was the first time that their candidate was from the CSU. Strauß, immensely popular in Bavaria, found it difficult to appeal to people in other parts of Germany. One important reason for Strauss's unpopularity compared to Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, was his tendency to talk sharply and militantly about his political opponents. Schmidt, by contrast, was still seen by many West German voters as a moderate and practical manager and doer, who focused on getting concrete political and economic results more than on political rhetoric.^[1][2][3]

The coalition between the SPD and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor. In 1982, the FDP quit the government, which led to the government's collapse and replacement with a new CDU/CSU – FDP coalition under Helmut Kohl.