Austria's Political Parties: Current Landscape Explored

Austrian politics is characterised by a multi-party system, with five parties represented in the National Council and Federal Council, and four parties consistently receiving enough votes to get seats in the national parliament. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) dominated politics and public life for decades, with only one additional party—the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)—playing a significant role at the national level. More recently, the pattern of two-party dominance withered with the rise of newer parties, such as the Greens and the NEOS.

Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. It is currently the second-largest party in the National Council, with 51 out of 183 seats, and won 26.3% of the votes in the 2024 legislative election. The ÖVP holds seats in all nine state legislatures and is part of the government in seven, leading six of those. The party is a member of the International Democracy Union and the European People's Party, sitting with the EPP group in the European Parliament.

The ÖVP was founded in 1945 as an unofficial successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has been one of the two traditional major parties in Austria, alongside the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). The ÖVP was the most popular party until 1970 and has traditionally governed in a grand coalition with the SPÖ. The ÖVP was the senior partner in grand coalitions from 1945 to 1966 and the junior partner from 1986 to 2000 and 2007 to 2017. The party also briefly governed alone from 1966 to 1970.

The ÖVP has strong support from farmers, large and small business owners, and lay Catholic groups, with strongholds in the rural regions of Austria. The party has consistently been the strongest or second-strongest party in terms of Federal Assembly seats and has led or been a partner in most Austrian federal cabinets.

In the 1945 Austrian legislative election, the ÖVP won a landslide victory, securing almost half of the popular vote and an absolute majority in the legislature. However, memories of hyper-partisanship during the First Republic led the ÖVP to maintain a grand coalition with the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) and the SPÖ. The ÖVP remained the senior partner in the coalition with the SPÖ until 1966 and governed alone from 1966 to 1970.

After the 1999 Austrian legislative election, the ÖVP formed a coalition with the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) led by Jörg Haider. This caused widespread outrage in Europe, and the European Union imposed informal diplomatic sanctions on Austria. The ÖVP's Wolfgang Schüssel became Chancellor, marking the first ÖVP chancellor since 1970.

In the 2013 Austrian legislative election, the ÖVP had minor losses, and the grand coalition with the SPÖ continued until the 2017 election. The ÖVP underwent a change in image under Sebastian Kurz, adopting the name "The New People's Party" and changing its colour from black to turquoise. The ÖVP won the 2017 election and formed a coalition with the FPÖ, which collapsed eighteen months later due to the Ibiza affair.

Following the 2019 election, the ÖVP formed a new coalition with The Greens, marking the first time the Greens gained power in Austria. However, an investigation into the Ibiza affair, an unstable Cabinet, and a corruption inquiry forced Kurz to resign the chancellorship in October 2021. He was replaced by Karl Nehammer, but the ÖVP fell to second place behind the FPÖ in the 2024 election.

The ÖVP is described as Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative. It has been characterised as a catch-all party of the centre-right, similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. The party has explicitly defined itself as Catholic and anti-socialist for most of its existence. In recent years, the ÖVP has shifted rightward, focusing on cracking down on illegal immigration and fighting political Islam.

The Greens – The Green Alternative

The party's basic values, according to their 2001 charter, include direct democracy, nonviolence, ecology, solidarity, feminism, and self-determination. They are part of the worldwide Green movement and are a member of the European Green Party and Global Greens. The Greens attract left-liberal intellectuals and younger voters, with a strong showing in urban areas.

In the 2008 elections, The Greens received 10.4% of the vote, and in the 2019 snap elections, they made a strong comeback with 13.9% of the vote and 25 seats in Parliament. The Greens have been part of a coalition government with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) since 2020, marking the first time they have gained power.

The Greens have also had success in state and local elections, with representation in various federal state assemblies and communal governments. They have had a strong showing in Vienna, where they received 22% of the votes in the 2004 EU elections, and in the state of Tyrol, where they won 15.59% of the vote in the 2003 state assembly elections.

The current President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, is from The Greens, and the party's federal spokesperson is Werner Kogler.

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)

The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is a far-right political party founded on the 7th of April 1956. The party has been described as right-wing populist, national-conservative, Eurosceptic, and German nationalist. The FPÖ was founded by supporters of German nationalism, anti-socialism, and anti-Catholic clericalism, and its inaugural leader was Anton Reinthaller, a former Nazi and SS officer.

The party initially followed a form of national liberalism but later evolved into right-wing populism under Jörg Haider in the 1980s. In 1983, the FPÖ entered the government with the Social Democratic Party of Austria, ending its status as a third party. During the Syrian Civil War in the 2010s, nativists supported the FPÖ in elections as refugees poured into Europe. In 2016, the party held 38 out of 183 National Council seats, 13 out of 61 Federal Council seats, and 4 out of 18 European Parliament seats.

The FPÖ is the largest of five parties in the National Council, with 57 out of 183 seats, and won 28.85% of the votes cast in the 2024 election. It is represented in all nine state legislatures and has six MEPs sitting with the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. The party is currently led by Herbert Kickl, who was elected leader in 2021.

The FPÖ has been accused of being involved in right-wing extremism and possessing a neo-Nazi ideology. The party has been known to spread false narratives and fuel skepticism, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic when it fueled vaccine hesitancy. The FPÖ has a clear stance on social issues, stating its commitment to "the primacy of marriage between a man and a woman" and rejecting "any separate legal institution for same-sex relations." The party also opposes preferential treatment for women to address discrimination.

In terms of foreign policy, the FPÖ is staunchly Eurosceptic and critical of EU support for Ukraine. It opposes Turkey's accession to the EU and has stated that Austria should leave the EU if Turkey joins. The party has also called for a referendum on EU membership and advocated for the introduction of a hard north Euro and a soft south Euro. The FPÖ has expressed support for Serbia and rejected the independence of Kosovo. Additionally, they have called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposed sanctions on Russian energy.

The FPÖ's ideology has been described as libertarian, with a focus on individual freedom in society. The party has supported regulated liberalism, privatisation, low taxes, and support for the welfare state. However, it has argued that continuing current immigration policies will make it impossible to uphold the welfare state.

Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)

The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) is a centre-left political party that was founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). It was reconstituted as the Socialist Party of Austria in 1945 (renamed to the Social Democratic Party of Austria in 1991) after being outlawed in 1934.

The SPÖ is the oldest extant political party in Austria and, along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), it is one of the country's two traditional major parties. It is positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum and is currently led by Andreas Babler. The party is supportive of Austria's membership in the European Union and it is a member of the Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists. It holds seats in the legislatures of all nine states and is the largest party in three: Burgenland, Carinthia, and Vienna.

The SPÖ has played a significant role in Austrian politics and public life for decades. It has governed the country either alone or with a junior partner between 1970 and 1999, and all but three of the Presidents of Austria since 1945 have been members of the SPÖ or nominated by it. The party originally had a high following among blue-collar workers but sought to expand its focus to include middle-class and white-collar workers in the late 1950s.

In recent years, the SPÖ has suffered some setbacks, including heavy losses in the 2019 National Council elections. However, there is a possibility that the party could reverse these setbacks, as demonstrated by their success in the 2020 regional elections in the State of Burgenland, where they received almost 50% of the votes under the leadership of Hans Peter Doskozil.

The SPÖ has close ties to the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK). It is committed to social democracy, freedom, equality, justice, and solidarity, and has expressed support for a global transaction tax following the 2008 financial crisis.

NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum

NEOS is represented in six of Austria's nine Landtage (state legislatures). It has been a coalition partner in the Vienna state and city government together with the SPÖ since 2020, and from 2018 to 2023 was in coalition with the ÖVP and the Greens in the state government in Salzburg.

The party's chairwoman and parliamentary leader is Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who was elected with 94.8% of the vote in 2018. She replaced Matthias Strolz, who stepped down in 2018. Strolz was elected chairman with 96.2% of the vote when the party was founded in 2012.

In the 2019 legislative election, NEOS won 8.3% of the vote and 15 seats in the National Council, making it the fourth-largest group in the National Council. In the 2019 European elections, NEOS ran under the name "NEOS – The New Europe", winning 8.44% of the vote and retaining their single MEP.

In its 2019 election programme, NEOS outlined four key policy areas: sustainability, relief, openness, and education. The party is pro-European and supports the creation of a federal Europe. It has been described as a "'classic party of the centre', with its program and electorate falling between those of the ÖVP and the Greens.

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