2013 Austrian legislative election explained

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2013 to elect the 25th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.^[1]

The parties of the ruling grand coalition, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), suffered losses, but placed first and second respectively and retained their combined majority. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) won 20.5%, an increase of three percentage points, and The Greens achieved their best result up to this point with 12.4% and 24 seats. With the collapse of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), which fell below the 4% electoral threshold and lost all its seats, two new parties entered the National Council: Team Stronach with 5.7% and NEOS with 5.0%.

The elections saw considerable change in the composition of the National Council; the ruling grand coalition won its lowest combined share of the popular vote in history. The coalition was nonetheless renewed, and Werner Faymann of the SPÖ remained Chancellor.

Background

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 24th National Council.

Name			Ideology	Leader	2008 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPÖ	Social Democratic Party of Austria	Social democracy	Werner Faymann	29.3%
	ÖVP	Austrian People's Party	Christian democracy	Michael Spindelegger	26.0%
	FPÖ	Freedom Party of Austria	Right-wing populism Euroscepticism	Heinz-Christian Strache	17.5%
	BZÖ	Alliance for the Future of Austria	National conservatism Right-wing populism	Josef Bucher	10.7%
	GRÜNE	The Greens	Green politics	Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek	10.4%

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.^[2]

On the ballot in all 9 states

• Team Stronach (FRANK)
• NEOS
• Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)
• Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)

On the ballot in some states only

• Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ) - on the ballot only in Upper Austria, Styria, Vorarlberg and Burgenland
• The Change (Der Wandel) - on the ballot only in Vienna and Upper Austria
• Socialist Left Party (SLP) - on the ballot only in Vienna
• EU Exit Party (EU-Austrittspartei) - on the ballot only in Vorarlberg
• Men's Party of Austria (Männerpartei Österreichs) - on the ballot only in Vorarlberg

Campaign

Issues included corruption scandals across the main parties and Austria's relative financial stability facing a probable crisis.^[3]

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

Agency/Source	Date	SPÖ	ÖVP	FPÖ	BZÖ	Greens	KPÖ	Pirates	Stronach	Others
Karmasin/Profil	2012-03-10	29%	24%	26%	3%	13%	-	-	-	5%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-03-11	29%	25%	27%	3%	13%	-	-	-	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-03-24	28%	23%	28%	3%	14%	-	-	-	4%
Karmasin/Profil	2012-04-05	29%	23%	27%	2%	13%	-	-	-	6%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-04-22	27%	22%	28%	3%	14%	-	6%	-	-
Karmasin/Heute	2012-04-23	27%	23%	27%	3%	13%	-	-	-	7%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-05-12	26%	21%	27%	3%	13%	-	7%	-	3%
Market/Standard	2012-05-19	29%	22%	27%	5%	14%	-	-	-	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-05-26	27%	22%	26%	3%	14%	-	5%	-	3%
Karmasin/Profil	2012-06-02	30%	25%	24%	3%	12%	-	-	-	6%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-06-09	28%	23%	24%	3%	14%	-	6%	-	2%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-06-16	28%	24%	23%	2%	12%	-	7%	-	4%
OGM/Kurier	2012-06-16	29%	25%	25%	3%	14%	-	-	-	4%
Market/Standard	2012-06-24	28%	23%	27%	5%	14%	-	-	-	3%
Peter Hajek/ATV	2012-06-29	30%	25%	25%	5%	12%	-	-	-	3%
Karmasin/Profil	2012-06-30	29%	23%	24%	4%	13%	-	-	-	7%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-06-30	28%	23%	24%	3%	12%	-	7%	-	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-07-08	28%	22%	23%	3%	12%	-	5%	4%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-07-21	28%	21%	23%	2%	12%	-	5%	6%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-08-04	29%	21%	21%	2%	12%	-	6%	6%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-08-18	28%	21%	20%	3%	14%	-	4%	8%	2%
Market/Standard	2012-08-19	30%	23%	21%	4%	16%	-	-	-	6%
Karmasin/Profil	2012-08-25	29%	23%	21%	2%	14%	-	-	7%	4%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-08-26	29%	22%	20%	2%	14%	-	3%	9%	1%
Market/Standard	2012-08-31	30%	24%	21%	3%	15%	-	-	-	7%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-09-01	28%	21%	20%	3%	14%	-	2%	10%	2%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-09-10	28%	23%	20%	2%	13%	-	2%	10%	2%
OGM/Kurier	2012-09-16	28%	23%	23%	3%	12%	-	-	6%	5%
Market/Standard	2012-09-20	29%	23%	21%	4%	16%	-	-	6%	5%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-09-23	27%	23%	21%	2%	14%	-	3%	9%	1%
meinungsraum.at	2012-09-26	27%	19%	21%	3%	15%	-	3%	9%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-09-28	26%	23%	20%	2%	14%	-	2%	12%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2012-10-06	26%	22%	21%	2%	14%	-	2%	12%	-
Market/Standard	2012-10-10	28%	22%	20%	2%	16%	-	-	10%	2%
Karmasin/Profil	2012-10-19	25%	23%	22%	2%	15%	-	-	10%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2012-10-21	25%	22%	22%	2%	15%	-	2%	11%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2012-10-27	25%	22%	22%	2%	15%	-	-	11%	-
Market/Standard	2012-10-28	27%	23%	22%	1%	15%	-	-	10%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2012-11-11	26%	23%	21%	2%	14%	-	2%	11%	-
Karmasin/Profil	2012-11-17	27%	24%	21%	2%	13%	-	-	10%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2012-11-24	27%	22%	21%	1%	15%	-	2%	10%	-
Karmasin/Profil	2012-11-30	27%	22%	22%	-	14%	1%	-	8%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-12-01	27%	23%	19%	1%	13%	4%	1%	11%	2%
Karmasin/Profil	2012-12-18	28%	24%	21%	1%	13%	-	-	2%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-12-19	27%	23%	20%	1%	14%	-	1%	11%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2012-12-30	27%	23%	21%	1%	14%	-	1%	10%	3%
Market/Standard	2013-01-02	27%	24%	23%	2%	14%	1%	1%	7%	1%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-01-13	28%	23%	20%	1%	14%	2%	1%	10%	1%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-01-26	27%	25%	21%	1%	13%	2%	1%	9%	1%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-02-09	27%	25%	21%	1%	14%	2%	1%	8%	1%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-02-19	28%	25%	21%	1%	14%	1%	1%	8%	2%
Karmasin/Heute	2013-02-22	27%	24%	23%	3%	12%	1%	-	10%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2013-02-24	27%	25%	22%	2%	13%	1%	-	9%	1%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-03-07	28%	25%	20%	2%	13%	1%	-	10%	1%
Market/Standard	2013-03-15	26%	24%	20%	2%	14%	1%	-	9%	3%
Market/Standard	2013-04-01	26%	24%	19%	4%	14%	-	-	10%	3%
Karmasin/Heute	2013-04-05	27%	24%	19%	2%	14%	2%	1%	9%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2013-04-07	27%	25%	19%	1%	14%	1%	1%	9%	-
Karmasin/Profil	2013-04-20	28%	25%	19%	1%	13%	-	-	10%	-
Gallup/Ö24	2013-04-20	27%	24%	19%	2%	13%	1%	1%	10%	-
Karmasin/Heute	2013-05-03	28%	24%	19%	2%	14%	1%	1%	8%	3%
Market/Standard	2013-05-10	25%	24%	19%	2%	16%	-	2%	10%	2%
Karmasin/Profil	2013-05-16	26%	25%	18%	2%	16%	-	-	10%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-05-29	27%	25%	18%	2%	15%	1%	1%	9%	2%
Karmasin/Heute	2013-06-01	27%	25%	18%	1%	16%	-	-	10%	3%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-06-14	28%	25%	18%	2%	14%	1%	1%	9%	2%
Karmasin/Profil	2013-06-15	27%	24%	18%	2%	15%	-	-	8%	6%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-07-28	27%	25%	18%	15%	8%	2%	-	1%	-	4%
Karmasin/Heute	2013-07-26	27%	25%	19%	14%	9%	2%	2%	1%	1%	-
IMAS/Krone	2013-07-21	27%	25%	19%	13%	10%	2.5%	-	-	-	3.5%
Spectra/OÖN	2013-07-20	27%	24%	18%	14%	10%	2%	-	-	-	5%
Market/Standard	2013-07-19	25%	24%	19%	15%	9%	3%	-	-	-	5%
Gallup/Ö24	2013-07-13	27%	24%	18%	15%	8%	2%	-	2%	-	3%
Karmasin/Profil	2013-07-13	28%	25%	18%	15%	7%	3%	-	-	-	4%
Market/Standard	2013-07-07	26%	24%	19%	16%	8%	2%	-	2%	1%	2%
OGM/Kurier	2013-07-07	27%	24%	19%	15%	8%	3%	-	-	-	4%

Results

Results by state

State	SPÖ	ÖVP	FPÖ	Grüne	TS	NEOS	BZÖ	Others	Turnout
	37.3	26.8	17.4	6.8	5.9	2.8	2.0	1.2	82.8
	32.4	15.2	17.9	11.8	6.9	3.7	10.8	1.3	72.5
	27.6	30.6	18.8	9.6	4.7	4.5	2.7	1.5	81.0
	27.2	25.4	21.4	12.2	4.8	3.4	3.5	2.1	78.3
	23.0	26.7	21.2	14.8	5.2	4.6	3.2	1.3	74.5
	23.8	20.9	24.0	10.6	10.0	3.9	3.9	2.9	75.4
	18.3	32.3	19.4	15.2	5.6	4.9	3.0	1.4	67.0
	13.1	26.3	20.2	17.0	5.3	13.1	2.4	2.5	65.9
	31.6	14.5	20.6	16.4	3.9	7.6	2.4	3.0	69.7
	26.8	24.0	20.5	12.4	5.7	5.0	3.5	2.1	74.9
Source: Austrian Interior Ministry

Preference votes

Alongside votes for a party, voters were able to cast a preferential votes for a candidate on the party list. The ten candidates with the most preferential votes on a federal level were as follows:^[4]

Party			Candidate	Votes
bgcolor=		ÖVP	3	Sebastian Kurz	35,728
bgcolor=		FPÖ	1	Heinz-Christian Strache	28,635
bgcolor=		ÖVP	1	Michael Spindelegger	25,258
bgcolor=		SPÖ	1	Werner Faymann	21,253
bgcolor=		GRÜNE	1	Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek	19,582
bgcolor=		SPÖ	38	Resul Ekrem Gönültas	12,715
bgcolor=		GRÜNE	48	Karl Öllinger	8,031
bgcolor=		BZÖ	1	Josef Bucher	5,359
bgcolor=		NEOS	1	Matthias Strolz	5,007
bgcolor=		GRÜNE	4	Peter Pilz	4,393

Government formation

The "grand coalition" of SPÖ and ÖVP retained their majority.^[5] 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.^[6] On October 14, the SPÖ and the ÖVP agreed to start coalition talks with each other,^[7] and on December 16, the second Faymann cabinet was formed by the SPÖ and the ÖVP.

See also

• Grand coalition (Germany)

External links

• Social Democratic Party of Austria
• Austrian People's Party
• Freedom Party of Austria
• The Greens – The Green Alternative
• Alliance for the Future of Austria
• Team Stronach
• Christian Party of Austria
• Communist Party of Austria
• EU Withdrawal Party
• Men's Party of Austria
• NEOS – The New Austria
• Pirate Party of Austria
• Socialist Left Party
• The Change

Notes and References

1. http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/1347633/Regierung-legt-sich-fest_Wahl-am-29-September Regierung legt sich fest: Wahl am 29. September
2. http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20130808_OTS0160/nationalratswahl-2013 Nationalratswahl 2013 - Abgeschlossene und veröffentlichte Landeswahlvorschläge
3. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/09/austrians-voting-general-elections-201392953433267646.html Austrians voting general elections
4. Web site: Preferential votes. Austrian Interior Ministry.
5. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/09/austria-governing-coalition-slips-election-2013929154932549655.html Governing coalition slips election
6. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/conservative-holdout-puts-austria-coalition-vote-131125638--business.html Austria coalition vote
7. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-government-idUSBRE99D0H820131014 Austria's biggest parties agree coalition talks