Overall, the incumbent coalition lost its majority, though the opposition SPD and Greens also fell short of victory.

[5] In the previous election held on 14 May 2017, the CDU became the largest party with 33.0% of votes cast, an increase of seven percentage points.

Other parties were not able to enter parliament, The Left only closely missing the electoral threshold of 5% winning 4.9% (+2.4 pp).

North Rhine-Westphalia is located in the industrial heartland of Germany and has traditionally been the base of support for the SPD.

The Greens largely benefited from the collapse in support for the SPD, as many of their policies on Ukraine are more popular with the German public.

[citation needed] Since the incumbent coalition of the CDU and FDP lost its majority in the election, the formation of a new government was necessary.

The Greens were considered to hold the balance of power, able to enter into coalition either with the CDU or with the SPD and FDP.

In a draft agreement, the two sides proposed transitioning North Rhine-Westphalia to climate neutrality, phasing out coal by 2030, and building 1,000 additional wind turbines over five years.

[11] The CDU and Greens presented their coalition agreement on 23 June, committing to the policies laid out in the previous draft paper, as well as growing police hires from 2,700 to 3,000, expanding public transport by aiming for a 60% increase in the number of buses and trains by 2030, and mandating the installation of solar energy systems in new private constructions from 2025.

[14] Wüst was re-elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 28 June, winning 106 votes out of 180 cast, plus one abstention.