Austria’s Political Parties : A Detailed Overview

There are various political parties in Austria. Some parties exist since many decades (ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ, Green Party, KPÖ), others were founded in recent years (Neos, Bierpartei, MFG etc). For a long time, the ÖVP and SPÖ were the two major parties that often formed a « big coalition ».

Proportional Representation in the Austrian Parliament and Construction of a Government

The distribution of the 183 seats in the Nationalrat is proportional to the electoral result. The last legislative elections in 2019 brought the  following results (% plus seats in the Nationalrat) :

ÖVP = 37,5% and 71 seats/    SPÖ = 21,2% and 40 seats/  FPÖ = 16,2% and 31 seats, Neos = 8,1% and 15 seats, Green Party = 13,9% and 26 seats. 

Austria’s chancellor is not directly elected by the people, but each party’s top candidate is automatically its chancellor candidate. According to the country’s political tradition, the party with the highest electoral score gets the mission to create a government by the austrian federal president. A government must have a 50% majority in the parliament. If the most successful party does not get these 50% alone, it will start negotiations with the other parties to form a government coalition.

Traditionally, the number one party provides as well the chancellor. The only exception to this principle was done after the 1999 elections : The SPÖ was number one, but did not succeed in forming a government. The FPÖ was ranked second, and the ÖVP was ranked third. Although the ÖVP had only reached the third position, this party finally provided the chancellor (Wolfgang Schüssel).

Various government compositions since 1945

Since the end of World War II, Austria has seen different types of governments. Most often, they were composed by one to three parties.

One-party governments existed from 1966 until 1983 : with the ÖVP under chancellor Josef Klaus from 1966-1970, and with the SPÖ under chancellor Bruno Kreisky, from 1970-1983. 3-party-governments existed only from 1945 to 1949 so far, composed by the ÖVP, SPÖ and KPÖ. For all the other years, there were governments composed of 2 parties. A particular case was the « public service government » under interim chancellor Brigitte Bierlein, from june 2019 to january 2020.   

The current government of Austria (from 2020 to 2024) is composed by the ÖVP (chancellor Karl Nehammer) and the Green Party (vice-chancellor Werner Kogler). In the last parliamentary elections in 2019, the ÖVP got 37,5% of the votes, the Green Party obtained 13,9%.

Quick summary of the last 4 years of the ÖVP/ Green Coalition

The current situation of Austria is challenging in various areas, such as economy, inner and outer security. In 2021, Austria’s unemployment reached its highest value since 1991. In 2020, the public debt was 99,9 % of the GDP – the highest value of the last 25 years. In 2022, the inflation reached its highest value since the 1970ies.

One terror attack happened in 2020 in Vienna, when the current chancellor Nehammer was minister of the Interior. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung informed about problems inside the austrian security administration :

« A fact-finding commission of the ministry of the interior criticized in a report from 2021, that the secret service (Austria’s « Verfassungsschutz ») had knowledge about the new radicalisation of the terrorist and his attempt to purchase ammunition in Bratislava, but that it did not inform the office of the public prosecutor. As a consequence of the errors of the public administration, Austria’s secret service was reformed and the anti-radicalisation measures in the prisons were improved. »  (Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 2023)

In august 2024, a second potentially big terror attack was prohibited – after an information by a foreign intelligence service. The target of the attack were visitors of a concert of the singer Taylor Swift in Vienna’s biggest football stadium.

Tina, a twelve year old girl from Georgia that was perfectly integrated in Vienna, was « repatriated » to Georgia in 2021. If this expulsion would have been done by the FPÖ, maybe there would have been an international scandal. But this « repatriation » – which was even declared illegal by Austria’s administrative court  – was realized under ministers of the ÖVP and the Green Party !

One minister of the Greens discussed already the « theoretical possibility » of « radical climate lockdowns » (see the details in the section for the Green Party).

Special Reminder : Austria’s law for compulsory Covid inoculations in 2022

Austria is the only european country that installed a law for compulsory Covid Inoculations (for the entire population) – with substances that do only have a “conditional market approval” ! People that declined these inoculations should be punished with an annual fine of 3600 EUR. Despite critical infos of medical experts, this law entered into force in early 2022, but it was never executed. It was abolished already a few months after its entry into force.

This law interfered in a very important way with the health and the freedom of medical choices of the population. Since the mass inoculations, a high number of people reported health problems (suspected adverse drug reactions, reported on the website of the EMA, European Medicines Agency – see the blog article at the end of this article for exhaustive informations on this subject).

Thus, it is important to remember, which parties and which deputees voted for and against this law in 2022.

The government parties : ÖVP : 4 deputees were absent, all the others voted with yes. Green Party : 3 deputees were absent, all others voted with yes.

The opposition parties : 

SPÖ : 4 deputees were absent, 1 deputee voted against the law, all others voted with yes. Neos : 4 deputees voted against it, all others voted with yes. The independent deputee Philippa Strache voted with yes. 

FPÖ : Two deputees were absent, all others voted against the law.

The first screenshot shows the conditional market approval for one of the inoculation substances  by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The second screenshot shows, that still in 2024 additional monitoring is necessary for this inoculation substance.

Discover the political parties of Austria that were listed for the national legislative election in 2024.

FPÖ: Freedom Party (FPO Austria)

The FPÖ, which exists since 1955, participated since the 1980ies in governments and provided each time the vice-chancellor : from 1983 to 1987 under chancellor Bruno Kreisky (SPÖ), from 2000 to 2007 under chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel (ÖVP), and from 2017 to 2019 under chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

The FPÖ (FPOE) is internationally known for its former leader Jörg Haider (1950 – 2008). When the Haider-led FPÖ, which got the etiquette « populist  right wing party » or even “far-right party”, re-entered the austrian government in 2000, various european countries declared in an overhasty way « binational diplomatic sanctions » against Austria, which was already a regular EU member since 1995. A special commission of the European Council was charged with an examination of the human rights situation in Austria. The commission found out, that even with the FPÖ in the government, the country met regular european human rights standards. Subsequently, the countries that had initiated the « sanctions », ended them immediately.

After a period of internal quarrels that had led to the temporary creation of a spin-off party (BZÖ Bündnis für die Zukunft Österreichs), the FPÖ, led by Heinz-Christian Strache, had again major electoral success, leading to a new government participation in 2017. This ÖVP/ FPÖ coalition ended in 2019 after the so-called « Ibiza Affair », and was followed by a temporary installation of a government composed by public service officials.  

The « Ibiza affair » is a mysterious sting operation organized by a convicted drug dealer in 2017. Party leader Strache was brought in a potentially compromising situation : a dinner invitation to a Finca in Ibiza, where an attractive young woman pretended to be a russian millionaire that wanted to buy political influence. The entire evening was secretely filmed and certain sequences were published in 2019, leading to the government breakdown. The full video footage shows, that the alleged russian millionaire gives a lot of alcohol to Strache and tries to push him towards accepting acts of corruption. The language used by Strache in the video is partially rough, but a potential criminal nature of his statements must be clarified by the courts. Several legal proceedings have been started against Strache, but until august 2024 he did not get convicted for any of the phrases he said in this video.

The current party leader Herbert Kickl (*1968) sharpened the profile of the FPÖ during the last years with a severe strategy concerning migration, an emphasis on Austria’s neutrality concerning the Ukraine/ Russia situation, and a critical position concerning the government’s Covid measures.

Kickl (*1968) studied history and philosophy, but did not finish his studies. He joined the FPÖ under Haider and held various top positions in the party over the years. Kickl, who is considered as an intellectual and tactical person, was minister of the interior from 2017 to 2019.

The FPÖ won the 2024 parliamentary election with 28,9%.

ÖVP: People’s Party (OVP Austria)

At the end of World War II, a provisional austrian government was created unter the presidency of the Social Democrat Karl Renner. Then, from 1945 to 1953, the ÖVP politician Leopold Figl was chancellor. Later, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he signed the State Treaty of 1955, which granted Austria’s full independence.

Figl, who was opposed to Austria’s alignment to Nazi-Germany, had spent 5 years in concentration camps. Having led Austria through the difficult postwar period, he acquired a high reputation that lasts until today.

The ÖVP has the reputation to be the traditional party for farmers and entrepreneurs. It defines itself also as “christian democratic”. One of its elder statesmen was the former minister for foreign affairs Alois Mock, who negotiated the EU entry of Austria in 1995. There is an iconic photo of him too, when in 1989 he cut the iron curtain between Austria and Hungary with pincers, together with the hungarian minister for foreign affairs.

The “headquarter” of the OEVP is in Lower Austria, were all governors since 1945 belong to this party (although it lost 10% in the last regional elections in 2023). Since 1987, the ÖVP has continuously been in the austrian federal government.

Since 2010, Sebastian Kurz (*1986) was considered to be the new superstar of the party, with a mixture of youth and good political marketing skills. Kurz had dropped out from his law studies to start a successfull political career, during which he became secretary of state at the age of 25, the country’s youngest minister for foreign affairs at the age of 27, and youngest austrian chancellor at the age of 31 years.

Following the 2019 « Ibiza Affair », Kurz ended the government coalition with the FPÖ. After a provisional government composed by public service officials, the ÖVP led by Kurz became again number one at the 2019 elections. Kurz formed subsequently a new government with the Green Party, which managed Austria from 2020 to 2024.

In march 2020, Sebastian Kurz set the population in fear with phrases such as « Soon everybody will know somebody who died of Covid ». Kurz and the ÖVP implemented very restrictive Covid measures that culminated in a lockdown for « non-vaccinated » people (in late 2021) and in the law for compulsory Covid inoculations with substances that do only have a conditional market authorisation. The ÖVP minister Karoline Edtstadler said in an interview even the following phrase:

« It will be illegal to live in Austria without a Covid vaccination ». (Karoline Edtstadler, ÖVP Minister)

Kurz resigned in late 2021 due to accusations of corruption. He was replaced at first by the Christian-Democrat Alexander Schallenberg (minister for foreign affairs). One of his first public statements concerned a date that is important for Christians :  

„At the same time it is obvious, that the next winter and the next Christmas will be uncomfortable for the Unvaccinated !“ (Alexander Schallenberg, christian-democratic provisional chancellor, november 2021)

Schallenberg was replaced as chancellor by the former minister of the interior Karl Nehammer, who is also the top candidate of the ÖVP for the 2024 election. Nehammer (*1972) has a master in political communication and has worked as a trainer for communication before his political career.

Nehammer’s communication as chancellor is remarkable … He said that children of poor parents could avoid malnutrition by going to fast food restaurants. Reflecting the impact of the high inflation during his chancellorship on the population, he said at a 2022 party meeting that ÖVP politicians would soon need « alcohol and psychotropics » to cope with future election results.

Nehammer’s « alcohol phrase » has become true : The ÖVP lost 11,2 % in the 2024 parliamentary election.

SPÖ: Social Democratic Party (SPO Austria)

While the ÖVP is traditionally associated with farmers and entrepreneurs, the SPÖ is considered as the historic party for workers. The Austria SPO has a long history, with remarkable historic merits for working class people, for examples in areas such as housing and education. Austria’s capital Vienna is a heartland for the SPÖ, which has provided all city mayors (that are automatically the governors) since 1945.

The party’s golden age was in the 1970ies and 1980ies under chancellor Bruno Kreisky. Kreisky, who had lived in Scandinavia during WW II, was a personal friend of other socialist leaders of the decade : Olof Palme in Sweden, and Willy Brandt in Germany.

Adolf Hitler’s annexation of Austria to Nazi-Germany in 1938 had led many Austrians to consider Austria as « first victim » of Hitler. But the former SPOE Chancellor Franz Vranitzky recognized in a speech in 1991 the co-responsibility of Austria for World War II.

Following the 2015 migration events, the social democratic chancellor Werner Faymann drew near positions of the FPÖ. This caused internal discrepancies in his party and led to his resignation as chancellor after 8 years in service.

The current party leader and chancellor candidate Andreas Babler (*1973) has a master in political communication. He is the mayor of the city of Traiskirchen, which houses Austria’s biggest refugee camp. In 2015 he got elected as city mayor with remarkable 73%. His election as party leader was remarkable too, because of a strange counting problem of the SPÖ team. At first the SPÖ declared the other candidate – Hans-Peter Doskozil – as new party leader, then they counted again and said that now it was Babler. 

Babler has the political etiquette « ultra left wing ». The SPÖ’s current political program contains the ambition to reduce the current weekly working time of 40 hours to about 33 hours, to improve offers for educational leaves, to tax robots (« Maschinensteuer ») and to raise the taxes of people with high heritages. Inside his party, Mister Babler is not fully supported by all other leading members. Outside, he strives to get the image of a politician who is very close to ordinary citizens.

Despite the « left wing « etiquette, Babler and the SPÖ want to reduce the number of asylum seekers by 75% and realize more « repatriations «. These program points could as well be written in the program of the « far right » FPÖ.

The SPÖ result with the 2024 parliamentary election was 21,1%.

Die Grünen (Green Party Austria)

The Austrian Green Party was created in the 1980ies after the ecological resistance movement against the construction of a water energy hydroelectric power plant that should be built in a natural forest (Hainburger Au). Its first president was Freda Meissner-Blau. The party is traditionally associated with the protection of the environment and of social minorities, and with pacifism. The current president of Austria – Alexander van der Bellen – is a former high profile politician of the Green Party too.

With the 2013 legislative elections, the party still got 12,4%, but then there was a period of internal conflicts. In the 2017 elections, only a spin-off-party led by the former green politician Peter Pilz could enter the parliament (with 4,4%). The Green Party itself got only 3,8% and did not qualify for the Nationalrat.  

The 2019 elections brought the Greens back into parliament, with a 13,9% result. For the first time in its history, the party began to work in a federal  government coalition (2020 – 2024) – together with the ÖVP.

The Greens promote in their political program organic food and « ecological systems with a big organic diversity », but they voted for compulsory Covid Inoculations with susbstances that contain messenger ARN.

Although the Greens promote « global demilitarisation « in their program, they support the supply of eastern conflict countries with weapons.            

The Minister for Health of the Greens, Johannes Rauch, discussed even the « theoretical possibility » of « radical Climate Lockdowns », similar to the radical lockdowns during the Covid period. 

The top candidate for the 2024 elections is Werner Kogler (*1961), the current vice-chancellor. Kogler, who has studied economy, joined the Green Party already in the early 1980ies. He has a down-to-earth style and possesses a strong determination to reach his political goals.

The Greens got 8,2 % with the 2024 elections.

Neos – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (Neos Austria)

The Neos exist since 2012. The party fusioned with the party Liberales Forum, that had been created in 1993 by Heide Schmidt when she quit Jörg Haider’s FPÖ together with some other parliament members. Since 2013 the Neos are in Austria’s national parliament, with electoral scores between 5% and 9,1 % (the result of the federal election 2024).

The most frequently used political etiquette for the Neos is « neoliberal ». In its political program, the NEOS wish a reduction of wage costs and of income taxes, a declining unemployment compensation, they support CO2-taxes (with the argument, that the overall tax charge should not be raised) and longer working careers to finance pensions. In 2015, the Neos complained about too many hospital beds in Austria, that allegedly cost too much money for tax payers. Even in the current party program the Neos say that the « density of hospitals beds is too high ».  

Beate Meinl-Reisinger (*1978), smart and eloquent, is the top candidate for the 2024 elections. Trained as a lawyer, she worked for the ÖVP until 2012. From 2013 to 2024, she has been a member of the national parliament, with a 3 year interruption in which she worked in the regional parliament of Vienna.

Bierpartei (Beer Party Austria)

The party founder and top candidate in 2024 is Dominik Wlacny (*1986), who uses the stage name « Marco Pogo » with his punkrock band. The first political campaigns were done by this fictitious persona « Marco Pogo » and with the promotion of moderate beer consumption.

But Wlacny should not be underestimated. He is a trained physician, who then switched to a music career. His personal charisma, together with his atypical campaign style, brought him substantial electoral success. In 2020, the austrian beer party entered the municipal councils of several districts of Vienna. In 2022, when running for the presidency of Austria, he got 8,3% of the votes.

The program of the Bierpartei on its website is quite identical with that of most other parties : equal rights for women, providing of good public transport etc.. It’s just written in a shorter style and in quite simple language.

Dr.med. Wlacny was not a member of parliament, when the law for compulsory Covid inoculations was voted in 2022, but he has realized such inoculations himself before a concert of his band.

In the opinion of many observers, the votes for Wlacny do basically derive from former voters of the SPÖ and the Green Party. Opinion polls from summer 2024 saw the Austria Beer Party to get 5 – 6 % of the votes and to enter the Nationalrat for the first time. This goal was not reached, as the final result was only 2%.

KPÖ: Communist Party (KPO Austria)

The KPÖ  is one of Austria’s oldest parties. Immediately after the end of WWII, the KPÖ participated in the first two federal governments led by Karl Renner (SPÖ) and Leopold Figl (ÖVP), in the period 1945 to 1949. But in the following years it became marginal.

Since 2005, the region of Styria became a new heartland for the KPÖ. In 2005, the party moved in the regional parliament with 6,34 %. The Communists held their success in Styria with the following regional elections: 4,41% in 2010, 4,22% in 2015, 5,99% in 2019.

In the styrian capital Graz, the KPÖ got about 20% in the 2012 and 2017 city council elections. In 2021, the KPÖ even became the number one party there, with 28,84%. Subsequently, Graz – which is Austria’s second most populous city after Vienna – got a communist mayor: Elke Kahr.

The KPOE also joined the regional parliament of Salzburg (with 11,7%) after the 2023 regional election.

The focus of the KPÖ for the 2024 legislative elections was on affordable housing. Further emphasis is put on „peace by active neutrality“ and „health before financial benefits“.  Its top candidate was Tobias Schweiger, for whom no biography was provided on the official party website.

The KPÖ result of the 2024 federal legislative elections (2,4%) is the highest score for this election during the last thirty years.

MFG Menschen, Freiheit, Grundrechte (People, Freedom and Fundamental Laws, MFG Austria)

This new party was born during the period of restrictive Covid measures taken by the austrian ÖVP-Green Party-Government. Various high profile experts have worked or do still work in this party : The lawyer Michael Brunner, the physician Christian Fiala etc.

MFG has successfully entered the regional parliament of Upper Austria in 2021, by obtaining 6,23%. But with the 2022 election of the austrian president (who is directly elected by the people), the candidate Michael Brunner only got 2,1% of the votes.

The program of the party calls for : transparency concerning the Covid measures taken by the austrian government, a strengthening of Austria’s neutrality, active promotion of peace between Russia and Ukraine, a refusal of CO2 taxes. Even a reflection about an exit of Austria from the EU (called Öxit or Oexit) is part of the program.

The party’s top candidate for the 2024 elections is Joachim Aigner (*1976), a tax consultant and deputee of the regional parliament of Upper Austria. MFG did not qualify for the Nationarat after the elections.

Liste Madeleine Petrovic

Madeleine Petrovic (*1956), who has studied economy, held until 2018 important positions as a politician of the Green Party. During the Covid period, Miss Petrovic criticised heavily the measures taken by the ÖVP-Green-Coalition, in particular the law for compulsory Covid inoculations with substances that only have a conditional market approval.

The new list strived to work in the parliament as a controler of the government, and as a provider of transparent information for the population. This goal was not reached in 2024.

Keine von denen/ Der Wandel (None of them/ The Change)

A very small party, founded in 2012, that worked together with the KPÖ in the past, and that has a city council seat in the regional capital Linz. Its program – available on the homepage – demands a basic income for each citizen, the legalisation of Cannabis, the protection of animals etc. The top candidate Fayad Mulla-Khalil is not well known by the general population, as is the party itself.   

Liste Gaza (Gaza List)

A new list that was created quite recently.  Its slogan is « for peace, neutrality and justice » in Palestine and Austria. The party wants to fight too what it calls an « Anti-Islam-Tendency » in Austria.

The candidate list contains many arab names of persons that are unknown to the general population. But the top candidate is very well known :

The austrian lawyer Astrid Wagner (*1963). In the 1990ies, Wagner was the girlfriend of the convicted murderer Jack Unterweger. As a lawyer, she defended many suspects with a high media presence, as for example Josef Fritzl, who had incarcerated his own daughter for decades in his basement.  

Many observers discuss the question, if a party that focuses on political topics that primarily belong to other countries – the Israel/ Palestine situation – should be allowed to enter the austrian parliament or not.

Die Gelben  (« The Yellows »)

This party too  is not very well known by the average austrian citizen. The program, which mentions a christian political approach, is realized by the « citizen list Peuerbach » (in Upper Austria). The party’s demands are : direct democracy, a critical discussion of the Covid measures installed by the austrian government, a reduction of the influence of big international companies in the EU (by threatening to leave the EU), an unconditional basic income for each citizen, stronger rules for the fight against corruption, more offers for childcare etc. Its top candidate has the name Martin Gollner.

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