2019 Austrian legislative election

2019 Austrian legislative election

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All 183 seats in the National Council 92 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	75.6% ( 4.4pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sebastian Kurz Pamela Rendi-Wagner Norbert Hofer Party ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Last election 31.5%, 62 seats 26.9%, 52 seats 26.0%, 51 seats Seats won 71 40 31 Seat change 9 12 20 Popular vote 1,789,417 1,011,868 772,666 Percentage 37.5% 21.2% 16.2% Swing 6.0pp 5.7pp 9.8pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Werner Kogler Beate Meinl-Reisinger Party Greens NEOS Last election 3.8%, 0 seats 5.3%, 10 seats Seats won 26 15 Seat change 26 5 Popular vote 664,055 387,124 Percentage 13.9% 8.1% Swing 10.1pp 2.8pp
Results of the election, showing seats won by state and nationwide. States are shaded according to the first-place party.
Chancellor before election Brigitte Bierlein Independent Chancellor after election Sebastian Kurz ÖVP

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2019 to elect the 27th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called in the wake of the Ibiza affair in May, which caused the resignation of Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and the collapse of the governing coalition of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). The government subsequently lost a motion of no confidence in parliament, before ÖVP Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was replaced by non-partisan Brigitte Bierlein on an interim basis.

The conservative ÖVP achieved its best result since 2002, improving its vote share six percentage points. The centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) won just 21.2%, its worst result in over a century. The FPÖ suffered a substantial loss of almost ten points. The Greens re-entered the National Council after falling out in 2017, and achieved their best ever result with 13.9% and 26 seats. NEOS improved from 2017, rising from 10 to 15 seats.

With the ÖVP in a clear position to lead the new government, it held talks with all other parties. By early November, a coalition with The Greens was seen as the most likely outcome. Negotiations continued through December, and on 1 January, ÖVP leader Kurz and Greens leader Werner Kogler announced the formation of a coalition government between their two parties. The government was sworn in on 7 January 2020 as Second Kurz government, with Sebastian Kurz returning as Chancellor and Kogler taking office as Vice Chancellor.