Politics
The politics of Dortmund are dominated by the social-democratic SPD. Since World War II, the SPD has been the biggest party on the town council (German: Stadtrat) - except from 1999 to 2004. Since the 2012 local election, there are 8 parties and electors' groups on the town council (86 seats; 2009: 96 seats):
| Party | Party List votes | Vote percentage | Total Seats | Seat percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) | 63.616 | 43,7 % (+5,9 %) | 38 (+1) | 44,2 % |
| Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) | 39.627 | 27,2 % (-1,5 %) | 23 (-5) | 26,7 % |
| Alliance '90/The Greens (GRÜNE) | 25.081 | 17,2 % (+1,8 %) | 15 (=) | 17,4 % |
| The Left (DIE LINKE.) | 5.071 | 3,5 % (-2,0 %) | 3 (-2) | 3,5 % |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 3.739 | 2,6 % (-3,7 %) | 2 (-4) | 2,3 % |
| National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) | 2.771 | 1,9 % (+1,0 %) | 2 (+1) | 2,3 % |
| Citizens' List – Free Voters Dortmund (Bürgerliste) | 2.760 | 1,9 % (-0,1 %) | 2 (=) | 2,3 % |
| Free Citizens' Initiative (FBI) | 1.684 | 1,2 % (+0,1 %) | 1 (=) | 1,2 % |
| Left Alliance Dortmund - Partyfree Left, DKP and SDAJ (Linkes Bündnis Dortmund) | 782 | 0,5 % (-0,1 %) | - (=) | - |
| Dortmund Independent Voters' Community 2009 (DUW 2009) | 175 | 0,1 % (=) | - (=) | - |
| Break-up basic income – Stopp Hartz IV (Aufbruch Grundeinkommen – Hartz IV muss weg) | 166 | 0,1 % (=) | - (=) | - |
| Independent candidate | 22 | 0,0 % (=) | - (=) | - |
| German People's Union (DVU) | - | - (-1,5%) | - (-1) | - |
| Gesamt | 145.595 | 100,0 % | 86 (-10) | 100,0 % |
Actual composition of the local council:
| SPD | CDU | GRÜNE | FDP/Bürgerliste | DIE LINKE. | Non-inscrit | Total | |
| 2012 | 38 | 23 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 86 |
Since May 2010, the lord mayor of Dortmund is Ullrich Sierau (SPD). He works with changing majorities in the local council.
Read more about this topic: Dortmund
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“In politics people give you what they think you deserve and deny you what they think you want.”
—Cecil Parkinson (b. 1932)
“There is a place where we are always alone with our own mortality, where we must simply have something greater than ourselves to hold onto—God or history or politics or literature or a belief in the healing power of love, or even righteous anger.... A reason to believe, a way to take the world by the throat and insist that there is more to this life than we have ever imagined.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)
“While you’re playing cards with a regular guy or having a bite to eat with him, he seems a peaceable, good-humoured and not entirely dense person. But just begin a conversation with him about something inedible, politics or science, for instance, and he ends up in a deadend or starts in on such an obtuse and base philosophy that you can only wave your hand and leave.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)