2015 Viennese state election

Election in Vienna, Austria September 2025 2015 Viennese state election Vienna state parliamentary no 2010 Viennese state election 2010 2020 Viennese state election 2020 All 100 seats in the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna51 seats needed for a majorityAll 13 seats in the state government 11 October 2015 854,406 (74.7%) 7.1% 150x150px Michael Häupl Social Democratic Party of Austria 49 seats, 44.3% 44 5 329,772 39.6% 4.7% 150x150px Heinz-Christian Strache Freedom Party of Austria 27 seats, 25.8% 34 7 256,448 30.8% 5.0% 150x150px Maria Vassilakou The Greens – The Green Alternative 11 seats, 12.6% 10 1 98,626 11.8% 0.8% Vienna 2013-05-03 Stadtfest - Manfred Jurazcka.jpg 170 115 150 0 35 Manfred Juraczka Austrian People's Party 13 seats, 14.0% 7 6 76,958 9.2% 4.8% 150x150px Beate Meinl-Reisinger NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum Did not exist 5 5 51,305 6.2% New party Landtagswahlkarte Wien 2015 neu.svg 350px Results by district. Mayor and Governor Michael Häupl Social Democratic Party of Austria Michael Häupl Social Democratic Party of Austria The 2015 Viennese state election was held on 11 October 2015 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna. The election saw losses for the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the traditional major parties of Austrian politics, and gains for the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and liberal NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS). The SPÖ recorded its worst result since 1996, while the ÖVP suffered its worst-ever result in an Austrian election, placing fourth with just 9.2% of votes.https://www.wien.gv.at/wahl/NET/GR151/GR151-109.htm Gemeinderat election 2015 Viennese Government Background The Viennese constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the city government (city councillors, de Stadtsräten) be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. The number of city councillors is voted upon by the Landtag after each election, and may legally vary between nine and fifteen. City councillors are divided into two groups – "senior" councillors, who hold a cabinet portfolio, and "non-executive" councillors who do not. Non-executive councillors may vote in cabinet meetings, but do not otherwise hold any government responsibility. In practice, parties seek to form a coalition which holds a majority in both the Landtag and the city government. City councillors bound to the coalition become senior councillors, while the opposition are relegated to non-executive status. In the 2010 state election, the SPÖ lost its majority. The SPÖ won eight councillors, the FPÖ three, the ÖVP one, and the Greens one. The SPÖ formed a coalition with the Greens. Electoral system The 100 seats of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between eighteen multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly or clear a 5 per cent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Droop quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method applied to surplus votes at the state level, to ensure overall semiproportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=LrW&Gesetzesnummer=20000320 RIS - Viennese Gemeinderat election act 1996 Viennese Government Contesting parties The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag. Name Ideology Leader 2010 result Votes (%) Seats Councillors SPÖ Social Democratic Party of AustriaSozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs Social democracy Michael Häupl 44.3% 49 100 Social Democratic Party of Austria 8 13 Social Democratic Party of Austria FPÖ Freedom Party of AustriaFreiheitliche Partei Österreichs Right-wing populismEuroscepticism Heinz-Christian Strache 25.8% 27 100 Freedom Party of Austria 3 13 Freedom Party of Austria ÖVP Austrian People's PartyÖsterreichische Volkspartei Christian democracy Manfred Juraczka 14.0% 13 100 Austrian People's Party 1 13 Austrian People's Party GRÜNE The Greens – The Green AlternativeDie Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative Green politics Maria Vassilakou 12.6% 11 100 The Greens – The Green Alternative 1 13 The Greens – The Green Alternative In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, eight parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) Vienna Differently (ANDAS) Together for Vienna (GfW) We want Freedom of Choice - List Pollischansky (WWW) (with Team Stronach and Alliance for the Future of Austria) We for Floridsdorf (WIFF) – on the ballot only in Floridsdorf Men's Party (M) – on the ballot only in Donaustadt Socialist Left Party (SLP) – on the ballot only in Brigittenau Free Democrats (FREIE) – on the ballot only in the Centre Results File:2015 Viennese state election - composition chart.svgParty Votes % +/− Seats +/− Coun. City councillors +/− Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 329,773 39.59 –4.75 44 –5 7 –1 Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 256,451 30.79 +5.02 34 +7 4 +1 The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 98,626 11.84 –0.80 10 –1 1 ±0 Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 76,959 9.24 –4.75 7 –6 1 ±0 NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) 51,305 6.16 New 5 New 0 New Vienna Differently (ANDAS) 8,937 1.07 New 0 New 0 New Together for Vienna (GfW) 7,608 0.91 New 0 New 0 New We want Freedom of Choice - List Pollischansky (WWW) 1,709 0.21 New 0 New 0 New We for Floridsdorf (WIFF) 1,346 0.16 New 0 New 0 New Men's Party (M) 152 0.02 New 0 New 0 New Socialist Left Party (SLP) 62 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 0 ±0 Free Democrats (FREIE) 59 0.01 New 0 New 0 New Invalid/blank votes 21,419 – – – – – – Total 854,406 100 – 100 0 13 0 Registered voters/turnout 1,143,076 74.75 +7.12 – – – –Source: Viennese Government Popular vote #ddd 500px 400px SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria 39.59 FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria 30.79 GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative 11.84 ÖVP Austrian People's Party 9.24 NEOS NEOS – The New Austria 6.16 Other #777777 2.38 Gemeinderat and Landtag seats #ddd 500px 400px SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria 44.00 FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria 34.00 GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative 10.00 ÖVP Austrian People's Party 7.00 NEOS NEOS – The New Austria 5.00 Results by constituency Constituency SPÖ FPÖ Grüne ÖVP NEOS Others Totalseats Turnout % S Seats % S Seats % S Seats % S Seats % S Seats % Centre 39.2 3 20.4 1 18.9 1 11.1 8.4 2.0 5 75.2 Inner West 37.5 2 17.3 1 22.5 1 11.6 9.3 1.8 4 79.1 Leopoldstadt 42.7 2 24.1 1 17.5 1 7.0 5.9 2.8 4 73.2 Landstraße 40.5 2 23.5 1 15.7 10.2 7.8 2.3 3 75.7 Favoriten 41.4 4 39.3 4 6.3 6.1 3.6 3.2 8 70.3 Simmering 40.3 2 42.9 3 5.2 5.1 3.7 2.9 5 72.5 Meidling 41.5 2 32.1 1 10.7 7.9 5.1 2.6 3 70.6 Hietzing 32.5 1 25.2 1 11.1 20.3 9.7 1.2 2 80.3 Penzing 38.0 2 30.1 1 12.5 11.0 6.6 1.8 3 76.1 Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus 42.3 1 26.4 1 17.2 6.3 4.7 2.9 2 69.3 Ottakring 40.9 2 28.2 1 14.4 8.2 5.4 1.9 3 73.0 Hernals 37.7 1 25.9 1 15.7 11.0 7.5 2.2 2 74.7 Währing 34.0 1 19.5 18.2 16.7 10.1 1.5 1 79.0 Döbling 35.7 1 25.2 1 10.1 18.0 9.6 1.5 2 77.5 Brigittenau 43.1 2 31.3 1 11.4 5.8 4.6 4.0 3 69.9 Floridsdorf 39.2 4 40.6 4 6.3 6.5 4.1 3.4 8 75.2 Donaustadt 40.8 4 38.6 4 7.2 6.7 4.9 1.8 8 76.8 Liesing 39.6 2 34.3 2 8.2 9.6 6.5 1.8 4 78.8 Remaining seats 6 5 7 7 5 30 Total 39.6 44 30.8 34 11.8 10 9.2 7 6.2 5 2.4 100 74.7 Source: Viennese Government Aftermath In light of the ÖVP's historically poor result, state chairman Manfred Juraczka announced his resignation on election night. He was succeeded by general-secretary Gernot Blümel.https://kurier.at/politik/inland/gernot-bluemel-uebernimmt-wiener-volkspartei/158.070.151 Gernot Blümel takes over the Vienna People's Party 12 October 2015 Kurier Ahead of the election, Greens top candidate and deputy mayor, Maria Vassilakou, stated she would resign if the Greens did not improve on their 2010 result.https://kurier.at/politik/inland/wien-wahl/vassilakou-ruecktritt-bei-wahl-minus/149.309.951 Vassilakou: Resignation in the event of election loss 27 August 2015 Kurier However, after suffering a loss of 0.8% in the election, Vassilakou reneged on the pledge, instead seeking to renew the coalition with the SPÖ and secure a second term as deputy mayor.https://www.kleinezeitung.at/politik/innenpolitik/4841298/WienWahl_Vassilakou_Ruecktritt-ploetzlich-kein-Thema-mehr Vassilakou: Withdrawal suddenly no longer an issue 12 October 2015 Kleine Zeitung She was subject to criticism from the public and her own party, with fellow Greens deputy Johannes Voggenhuber stating her broken promise demonstrated a "loss of reality" within the party leadership. The day after the election, Vassilakou offered her resignation to the Greens state congress, but it was rejected.https://www.krone.at/476586 Agitation over Vassilakou's resignation 12 October 2015 Kronen Zeitung She was harshly criticised by SPÖ deputy Peko Baxant, who said, "I really don't know if you can continue to work with such people."https://www.diepresse.com/4843742/kein-rucktritt-spo-funktionar-kritisiert-vassilakou No resignation: SPÖ official criticizes Vassilakou 14 October 2015 Die Presse Post-election, Häupl announced he would seek a coalition with the Greens. He also stated that the SPÖ would be open to abolishing the non-executive councillors, but noted they had "a long way to go" due to the two-thirds Landtag majority required to amend the state constitution. Since the FPÖ won over a third of seats, it was entitled to take one of the two deputy mayor positions; this was filled by Johann Gudenus. He remained a non-executive councillor.https://orf.at/v2/stories/2305029/2305028/ "Beautifully bland" without conflict 20 October 2015 ORF The SPÖ and Greens finalised a 150-page coalition agreement on 13 November, which was subsequently approved by both parties.https://orf.at/v2/stories/2309365/2309367/ Agreement on 150-page coalition paper 13 November 2015 ORFhttps://wien.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2742151/ Red-green coalition sealed 14 November 2015 ORF The government was sworn in on 24 November.https://wien.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2742517/ Red-green starts on 24 November 16 November 2015 ORF References Category:2015 elections in Austria Category:State elections in Austria Category:October 2015 in Austria Category:Politics of Vienna