Social Democratic Party of Austria

Social Democratic Party of Austria

*Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs*
Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Abbreviation	SPÖ
Chairperson	Andreas Babler
Parliamentary leader	Andreas Babler & Philip Kucher
Managing director	Klaus Seltenheim & Sandra Breiteneder
Notable deputy chairpersons	See list Doris Bures; Eva-Maria Holzleitner; Peter Kaiser; Andreas Schieder; Selma Yildirim;
Founder	Victor Adler
Founded	1 January 1889
Headquarters	Löwelstraße 18, 1040 Vienna
Student wing	Socialist Students of Austria
Youth wing	Junge Generation / Socialist Youth Austria
Paramilitary wing	Republikanischer Schutzbund; (1923–1934)
Membership (2023)	c. 140,000
Ideology	Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance;
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours	Red
Anthem	"Lied der Arbeit"; "Song of Labour"
National Council	40 / 183
Federal Council	18 / 61
Governorships	3 / 9
State cabinets	5 / 9
State diets	133 / 440
European Parliament	5 / 19
Party flag
Website
	spoe.at
	Politics of Austria; Political parties; Elections;

The Social Democratic Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs [zoˈtsi̯aːldemoˌkraːtɪʃə parˌtaɪ ˈøːstəraɪçs], SPÖ) is a social-democratic^[4]^[5]^[6] political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria (German: Sozialistische Partei Österreichs) from 1945 until 1991,^[7] the party is the oldest extant political party in Austria. 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.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Since June 2023, the party has been led by Andreas Babler. It is currently the second largest of five parties in the National Council, with 40 of the 183 seats, and won 21.2% of votes cast in the 2019 legislative election. It holds seats in the legislatures of all nine states; of these, it is the largest party in three (Burgenland, Carinthia, and Vienna.) The SPÖ is supportive of Austria's membership in the European Union,^[11] and it is a member of the Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists. It sits with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; of Austria's 19 MEPs, five are members of the SPÖ. The party has close ties to the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK).

The SDAPÖ was the second largest party in the Imperial Council of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the 1890s through 1910s. After the First World War, it briefly governed the First Austrian Republic, but thereafter returned to opposition. The party was banned in 1934 following the Austrian Civil War, and was suppressed throughout Austrofascism and the Nazi period. The party was refounded as the Socialist Party of Austria in 1945 and governed as a junior partner of the ÖVP until 1966. In 1970, the SPÖ became the largest party for the first time in post-war history, and Bruno Kreisky became Chancellor, winning three consecutive majorities (1971, 1975, and 1979). From 1987 to 2000 the SPÖ led a grand coalition with the ÖVP before returning to opposition for the first time in 30 years. The party governed again from 2007 to 2017. Since 2017, the SPÖ have been the primary opposition to the ÖVP governments of Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg, and Karl Nehammer.

^ "Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs". ParlGov Database. Holger Döring and Philip Manow. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
^ Schiretz, Vilja. "Mitgliederbefragung - Die rote Basis als große Unbekannte". Österreich Politik - Nachrichten - Wiener Zeitung Online.
^ Hochman, Erin R. (2016). Imagining a Greater Germany: Republican Nationalism and the Idea of Anschluss. Cornell University Press. p. 115. ISBN 9781501706066.
^ Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
^ "Parties and Elections in Europe". www.parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
^ Bale, Tim (2021). Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-009-00686-6. OCLC 1256593260.
^ Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Austria: Transport and telecommunications - history - geography". Retrieved 24 October 2019.
^ Connolly, Kate; Oltermann, Philip; Henley, Jon (23 May 2016). "Austria elects Green candidate as president in narrow defeat for far right". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^ "The Latest: Election tally shows Austria turning right". The Washington Times. Associated Press. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
^ Oliphant, Roland; Csekö, Balazs (5 December 2016). "Austrian far-right defiant as Freedom Party claims 'pole position' for general election: 'Our time comes'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
^ "SPOE Partei Programm" (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2012. (458 KiB) Party platform, see articles I.(1) and III.7.(1): "strive for a society that overcomes class antagonisms", "only the advancement of political to economic, and therefore social, democracy establishes the precondition for the realization of our basic principles".^{[dead link]}

[1] "Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs". ParlGov Database. Holger Döring and Philip Manow. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2017.

[2] Schiretz, Vilja. "Mitgliederbefragung - Die rote Basis als große Unbekannte". Österreich Politik - Nachrichten - Wiener Zeitung Online.

[3] Hochman, Erin R. (2016). Imagining a Greater Germany: Republican Nationalism and the Idea of Anschluss. Cornell University Press. p. 115. ISBN 9781501706066.

[Almeida-4] Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.

[Nordsieck2-5] "Parties and Elections in Europe". www.parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved 18 December 2022.

[6] Bale, Tim (2021). Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-009-00686-6. OCLC 1256593260.

[7] Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Austria: Transport and telecommunications - history - geography". Retrieved 24 October 2019.

[8] Connolly, Kate; Oltermann, Philip; Henley, Jon (23 May 2016). "Austria elects Green candidate as president in narrow defeat for far right". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

[9] "The Latest: Election tally shows Austria turning right". The Washington Times. Associated Press. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

[10] Oliphant, Roland; Csekö, Balazs (5 December 2016). "Austrian far-right defiant as Freedom Party claims 'pole position' for general election: 'Our time comes'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

[11] "SPOE Partei Programm" (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2012. (458 KiB) Party platform, see articles I.(1) and III.7.(1): "strive for a society that overcomes class antagonisms", "only the advancement of political to economic, and therefore social, democracy establishes the precondition for the realization of our basic principles".^{[dead link]}

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