[1] The SPD/FDP coalition under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was returned to power in the 1980 West German federal election.

The party leadership under Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Otto Graf Lambsdorff drove the new policy, but they were rejected by a minority under Gerhart Baum, Günter Verheugen and Ingrid Matthäus-Maier.

Helmut Schmidt renounced his chancellor candidacy and was replaced by former Federal Minister of Justice Hans-Jochen Vogel.

A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision, something the SPD was deeply split on.

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, gaining 55.7% of the vote and 55.8% of the seats, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor.