2013 Austrian legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2013.[2]

2013 Austrian legislative election

29 September 2013

All 183 seats in the National Council
92 seats needed for a majority
Turnout4,782,410 (74.91%)[1]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Werner Faymann Michael Spindelegger Heinz-Christian Strache
Party SPÖ ÖVP FPÖ
Leader since 2008 2011 2005
Last election 57 seats, 29.26% 51 seats, 25.98% 34 seats, 17.54%
Seats won 52 47 40
Seat change 5 4 6
Popular vote 1,258,605 1,125,876 962,313
Percentage 26.82% 23.99% 20.51%
Swing 2.44% 1.99% 2.97%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Eva Glawischnig Frank Stronach Matthias Strolz
Party Greens Stronach NEOS
Leader since 2008 2012 2012
Last election 20 seats, 10.43% Did not contest Did not contest
Seats won 24 11 9
Seat change 4 11 9
Popular vote 582,657 268,679 232,946
Percentage 12.42% 5.73% 4.96%
Swing 1.99% 5.73% 4.96%

  Seventh party
 
Leader Josef Bucher
Party BZÖ
Leader since 2009
Last election 21 seats, 10.7%
Seats won 0
Seat change 21
Popular vote 165,746
Percentage 3.53%
Swing 7.17%

Results of the election, showing seats won by state and nationwide. States are shaded according to the first-place party.

Chancellor before election

Werner Faymann
SPÖ

Elected Chancellor

Werner Faymann
SPÖ

For this election, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) had proposed a reduction in the number of MPs from 183 to 165 as part of austerity measures, but despite overwhelming support from the Austrian populace,[3] the proposals failed to pass in parliament.[4]

Overview

The government is a grand coalition between Austria's two largest parties, the SPÖ and ÖVP, who rule with the SPÖ's Werner Faymann as Chancellor. Support for both governing parties has fallen marginally since the 2008 election. The Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) made significant gains in the previous election, but while the FPÖ gained support after the 2008 election, the BZÖ shrank after the death of its founder Jörg Haider and taking a turn toward liberalism. Additionally, nine of the BZÖ's 21 elected members to the National Council changed their party affiliation during the term: five members joined the Team Stronach, while four joined the FPÖ. Team Stronach, funded by Austrian-Canadian businessman Frank Stronach, has emerged as an anti-euro alternative and eventually started to hurt the FPÖ's standing in the polls. The Greens have solidified their position as the fourth-largest party in opinion polls.

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 25th National Council.

Name Ideology Leader 2008 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Werner Faymann 29.3%
57 / 183
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Michael Spindelegger 26.0%
51 / 183
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Heinz-Christian Strache 17.5%
34 / 183
BZÖ Alliance for the Future of Austria
Bündnis Zukunft Österreich
National conservatism
Right-wing populism
Josef Bucher 10.7%
21 / 183
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek 10.4%
20 / 183

Qualified parties

In addition to the parties already represented in the National Council, nine parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. Four of these were cleared to be on the ballot in all states, five of them only in some.[5]

On the ballot in all 9 states

On the ballot in some states only

Campaign

Issues included corruption scandals across the main parties and Austria's relative financial stability facing a probable crisis.[6]

Opinion polling

Recent opinion polls

Agency/Source Date SPÖ ÖVP FPÖ Greens Stronach BZÖ NEOS Pirates KPÖ Others
Gallup/Neos.eu 2013-09-23 27% 23% 21% 14% 6% 3% 4% 1% 1% -
OGM/Kurier 2013-09-21 27% 22% 21% 14% 6% 4% 4% 1% 1% -
Market/Der Standard 2013-09-20 26% 23% 19% 15% 7% 4% 3% 1% 1% 1%
Gallup/Österreich 2013-09-20 27% 23% 20% 14% 7% 2.5% 3.5% 1% 1% 1%
Karmasin/Heute 2013-09-20 27% 23% 21% 14% 7% 2% 3% 1.5% 1.5% -
Hajek/ATV 2013-09-19 27% 23% 20% 15% 7% 3% 3% 1% 1% 1%
Meinunungsraum/Neos.eu 2013-09-19 28% 24% 19% 15% 7% 2% 4% - - 1%
Market/Standard 2013-09-15 26% 22% 20% 15% 9% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1%
Spectra/Oberösterreichische Nachrichten 2013-09-14 26% 23% 20% 13% 9% 4% 1.5% - - 3.5%
Karmasin/Profil 2013-09-14 28% 25% 20% 15% 6% 2% 3% - - 1%
Gallup/Österreich 2013-09-13 28% 25% 20% 15% 7% 1% 3% 1% - -
Gallup/Österreich 2013-09-06 28% 24% 19% 15% 8% 2% 2% 1% 1% -
OGM/Kurier 2013-08-31 27% 24% 20% 15% 7% 3% 2% 1% - 1%
Karmasin/Profil 2013-08-31 28% 24% 20% 15% 7% 2% 1% - - 3%
Market/Standard 2013-08-30 26% 22% 19% 16% 9% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1%
Gallup/Österreich 2013-08-30 28% 23% 19% 15% 9% 2% 2% 1% 1% -
Meinungsraum/NEWS 2013-08-29 27% 24% 19% 14% 8% 2% 3% 2% - 1%
Spectra/Vorarlberger Nachrichten 2013-08-24 27% 25% 19% 14% 7% 3% - - - 5%
Gallup/Österreich 2013-08-23 28% 24% 18% 15% 9% 2% 2% 1% 1% -
Karmasin/Heute 2013-08-23 28% 25% 20% 15% 7% 1% 2% 1% 1% -
Market/Standard 2013-08-15 26% 24% 18% 15% 9% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1%
IMAS/Kronen Zeitung 2013-08-10 27% 25% 20% 13% 9% 3% - - - 3%
Karmasin/Profil 2013-08-10 28% 25% 18% 16% 7% 3% - - - 3%
Gallup/Österreich 2013-08-09 28% 25% 17% 16% 8% 2% 2% 1% 1% -
Meinungsraum/Neos.eu 2013-08-08 26% 24% 20% 13% 9% 2% 3% 2% 1% -

Older opinion polls

Results

Map showing the results of the election in the state level by the party voted most.
Party Votes +/− % +/− Seats +/−
Social Democratic Party of Austria1,258,605−171,60126.82−2.4452−5
Austrian People's Party1,125,876−143,78023.99−1.9947−4
Freedom Party of Austria962,313+105,28420.51+2.9740+6
The Greens – The Green Alternative582,657+72,72112.42+1.9924+4
Team Stronach268,679New5.73New11New
NEOS – The New Austria232,946New4.96New9New
Alliance for the Future of Austria165,746–357,1873.53–7.170–21
Communist Party of Austria48,175+10,8131.03+0.2700
Pirate Party of Austria36,265New0.77New0New
Christian Party of Austria6,647–24,4330.14–0.5000
The Change3,051New0.07New0New
Socialist Left Party947New0.02New0New
EU Exit Party510New0.01New0New
Men's Party490New0.01New0New
Invalid/blank votes89,503–14,140
Total4,782,410–208,542100.01830
Registered voters/turnout6,384,308+51,19974.91–3.90
Source: Austrian Interior Ministry
Popular vote
SPÖ
26.82%
ÖVP
23.99%
FPÖ
20.51%
GRÜNE
12.42%
STRONACH
5.73%
NEOS
4.96%
BZÖ
3.53%
KPÖ
1.03%
PPÖ
0.77%
Other
0.25%
Parliamentary seats
SPÖ
28.42%
ÖVP
25.68%
FPÖ
21.86%
GRÜNE
13.11%
STRONACH
6.01%
NEOS
4.92%

Results by state

State results in %SPÖÖVPFPÖGreensTSNEOSBZÖKPÖothers
 Burgenland37.326.817.46.85.92.82.00.50.7
 Carinthia32.415.217.911.86.93.710.80.60.7
 Lower Austria27.630.618.89.64.74.52.70.80.7
 Upper Austria27.225.421.412.24.83.43.50.71.4
 Salzburg23.026.721.214.85.24.63.20.60.7
 Styria23.820.924.010.610.03.93.91.81.1
 Tyrol18.332.319.415.25.64.93.00.70.7
 Vorarlberg13.126.320.217.05.313.12.40.52.0
 Vienna31.614.520.616.43.97.62.41.71.3
 Austria26.824.020.512.45.75.03.51.01.0
Source: Nationalratswahl 2013, Austrian Ministry of the Interior

The losses for the government parties (both the SPÖ and the ÖVP had the worst election result in history) resulted in strong gains for the far right, the election was seen as strong for the far-right and in support of Eurosceptics.

Especially in Carinthia, the Freedom Party (FPÖ) benefited most from the BZÖ's weakness since Jörg Haider's death in autumn 2008: the FPÖ's share of the vote rose from 7.6% to 17.9%, and they became the second strongest party in the state. In contrast, the state's former leading party BZÖ came fifth, with their share falling from 38.5% to 10.8%, while the SPÖ came first in Carinthia with 32.4%.

However, in Styria the FPÖ came first with 24.0%; the SPÖ were second with 23.8%.

In the other states no major changes of the leading party occurred.

Government formation

The "grand coalition" of SPÖ and ÖVP retained their majority.[7] While the SPÖ were keen to renew the coalition, the ÖVP also considered the possibility of a coalition with the FPÖ and another smaller party.[8] On October 14, the SPÖ and the ÖVP agreed to start coalition talks with each other,[9] and on December 16, the second Faymann cabinet was formed by the SPÖ and the ÖVP.

See also

References

  1. "Nationalratswahl 2013 - Endgültiges Gesamtergebnis". Website of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior (in German). Bundesministerium für Inneres. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  2. Regierung legt sich fest: Wahl am 29. September - Die Presse, 21 February 2013
  3. Sparpaket: Prammer sagt Verkleinerung des Nationalrats ab - Der Standard, 19 November 2012
  4. Regierungsspitze hofft weiter auf NR-Verkleinerung - Der Standard, 20 November 2012
  5. Nationalratswahl 2013 - Abgeschlossene und veröffentlichte Landeswahlvorschläge - bmi.gv.at, 8 August 2013
  6. Austrians voting general elections Al Jazeera 29 September 2013
  7. Governing coalition slips election Al Jazeera 29 September 2013
  8. Austria coalition vote Yahoo!
  9. Austria's biggest parties agree coalition talks Reuters, Oct. 14
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