2013 Austrian legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2013 to elect the 25th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.[2]

2013 Austrian legislative election

29 September 2013
All 183 seats in the National Council 92 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	4,782,410 (74.9%)[1] 3.9%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Werner Faymann Michael Spindelegger Heinz-Christian Strache Party SPÖ ÖVP FPÖ Leader since 8 August 2008 20 May 2011 23 April 2005 Last election 57 seats, 29.3% 51 seats, 26.0% 34 seats, 17.5% Seats won 52 47 40 Seat change 5 4 6 Popular vote 1,258,605 1,125,876 962,313 Percentage 26.8% 24.0% 20.5% Swing 2.4% 2.0% 3.0%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Eva Glawischnig Frank Stronach Matthias Strolz Party Greens Stronach NEOS Leader since 3 October 2008 27 September 2012 27 October 2012 Last election 20 seats, 10.4% 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 12.4% 5.7% 5.0% Swing 2.0% 5.7% 5.0%   Seventh party   Leader Josef Bucher Party BZÖ Leader since 26 April 2009 Last election 21 seats, 10.7% Seats won 0 Seat change 21 Popular vote 165,746 Percentage 3.5% Swing 7.2%
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

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 – The New Austria with 5.0%.

The election 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.

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 24th 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.[3]

On the ballot in all 9 states

• Team Stronach (FRANK)
• NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS - Das Neue Österreich)
• 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.[4]

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

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%

National Council seats
SPÖ			28.42%
ÖVP			25.68%
FPÖ			21.86%
GRÜNE			13.11%
STRONACH			6.01%
NEOS			4.92%

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	1,258,605	26.82	−2.44	52	−5
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	1,125,876	23.99	−1.99	47	−4
	Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)	962,313	20.51	+2.97	40	+6
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	582,657	12.42	+1.99	24	+4
	Team Stronach (FRANK)	268,679	5.73	New	11	New
	NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)	232,946	4.96	New	9	New
	Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)	165,746	3.53	–7.17	0	–21
	Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)	48,175	1.03	+0.27	0	±0
	Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)	36,265	0.77	New	0	New
	Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ)	6,647	0.14	–0.50	0	±0
	Der Wandel (WANDL)	3,051	0.07	New	0	New
	Socialist Left Party (SLP)	947	0.02	New	0	New
	EU Exit Party (EUAUS)	510	0.01	New	0	New
	Men's Party (M)	490	0.01	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		89,503	–	–	–	–
Total		4,782,410	100	–	183	0
Registered voters/turnout		6,384,308	74.91	–3.90	–	–
Source: Austrian Interior Ministry

Results by state

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

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)

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. Nationalratswahl 2013 - Abgeschlossene und veröffentlichte Landeswahlvorschläge - bmi.gv.at, 8 August 2013
4. Austrians voting general elections Al Jazeera 29 September 2013
5. Governing coalition slips election Al Jazeera 29 September 2013
6. Austria coalition vote Yahoo!
7. Austria's biggest parties agree coalition talks Reuters, Oct. 14

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