# 2019 Austrian legislative election
The 2019 Austrian legislative election was a snap election for the 183-seat National Council (Nationalrat) held on 29 September 2019, three years before it was constitutionally due, after the governing coalition of the [Austrian People's Party](https://www.edgepedia.org/austrian-peoples-party) (ÖVP) and the [Freedom Party of Austria](https://www.edgepedia.org/freedom-party-of-austria) (FPÖ) collapsed in the Ibiza affair[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/). The ÖVP under former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz won a clear victory with 37.5 percent of the vote, and after three months of negotiations it formed Austria's first coalition government with the Greens[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 September 2019, an early election held three years ahead of schedule[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/) |
| Trigger | The Ibiza affair: a secretly recorded video of Vice-Chancellor and FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, published on 17 May 2019, brought down the ÖVP–FPÖ coalition[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2047-8852.12298) |
| Winner | ÖVP, 1,789,417 votes, 37.5 percent, 71 of 183 seats (+9 seats versus 2017)[3](https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/nationalratswahlen/nationalratswahl_2019/) |
| Other parties | SPÖ 21.2 percent (40 seats), FPÖ 16.2 percent (31), Greens 13.9 percent (26), NEOS 8.1 percent (15)[3](https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/nationalratswahlen/nationalratswahl_2019/) |
| Turnout | 75.6 percent; 4,835,469 of 6,396,812 registered voters cast ballots, down 4.4 points from 2017[3](https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/nationalratswahlen/nationalratswahl_2019/) |
| Outcome | ÖVP–Green coalition agreed on 1 January 2020 and sworn in on 7 January 2020, the first Austrian government to include the Greens[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/) |
## Background: the Ibiza affair
On 17 May 2019, the German news magazine [Der Spiegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/der-spiegel) and the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung published extracts from a video secretly filmed in July 2017 on the Spanish island of Ibiza. It showed Vice-[Chancellor](https://www.edgepedia.org/chancellor) and FPÖ party leader Heinz-Christian Strache and parliamentary party leader Johann Gudenus in conversation with a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, discussing possible government contracts in exchange for campaign support and a partial takeover of Austria's most widely read newspaper[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2047-8852.12298). Strache and Gudenus resigned within hours, and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz ended the coalition[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/ibizagate-capturing-a-political-field-in-flux/948A87C0203129247C7D9AD547E3B98D).
Days later, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) initiated a motion of no confidence that passed with FPÖ support, the first successfully passed vote of no confidence in the Second Republic[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/ibizagate-capturing-a-political-field-in-flux/948A87C0203129247C7D9AD547E3B98D). Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen then appointed a caretaking government of experts and senior civil servants led by [Brigitte Bierlein](https://www.edgepedia.org/brigitte-bierlein), former president of the Constitutional Court, until snap elections could be held in late September[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/ibizagate-capturing-a-political-field-in-flux/948A87C0203129247C7D9AD547E3B98D) • [5](https://www.csis.org/programs/europe-russia-and-eurasia-program/projects/european-election-watch/2019-elections/austria).
## Electoral system and campaign
The National Council is elected by proportional representation with a 4 percent nationwide threshold: a party that wins no basic seat in a regional constituency must obtain at least 4 percent of valid votes nationwide to enter parliament[6](https://www.parlament.gv.at/en/services/inquiry-service/faq/elections). Thirteen parties or groupings contested the election[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/).
The campaign ran against the backdrop of the [Fridays for Future](https://www.edgepedia.org/fridays-for-future) climate demonstrations, which made climate change a key electoral issue[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/). The Greens' campaign topics also benefited from the troubles of JETZT, the renamed green splinter party List Pilz that had supplanted the Greens in the previous 2017 election[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2047-8852.12298). The FPÖ, now led by Norbert Hofer after Strache's resignation, entered the campaign weakened by the scandal[5](https://www.csis.org/programs/europe-russia-and-eurasia-program/projects/european-election-watch/2019-elections/austria).
## Results
The Federal Election Authority established the official final result, including all postal votes, on 16 October 2019[3](https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/nationalratswahlen/nationalratswahl_2019/).
| Party | Votes | Share | Seats (2019) | Seats (2017) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ÖVP (Liste Sebastian Kurz) | 1,789,417 | 37.5% | 71 | 62 | +9 |
| SPÖ | 1,011,868 | 21.2% | 40 | 52 | −12 |
| FPÖ | 772,666 | 16.2% | 31 | 51 | −20 |
| Greens (Die Grünen) | 664,055 | 13.9% | 26 | 0 | +26 |
| NEOS | 387,124 | 8.1% | 15 | 10 | +5 |
| JETZT – Liste Pilz | 89,169 | 1.9% | 0 | 8 | −8 |
Compared with 2017, the ÖVP gained 6.0 points, the Greens gained 10.1 points, the FPÖ lost 9.8 points, and the SPÖ lost 5.7 points[3](https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/nationalratswahlen/nationalratswahl_2019/). The Greens' 13.9 percent was the best result in the party's history, and the SPÖ's 21.2 percent was described as an all-time low for the party[7](https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a-tale-of-firsts-the-2019-austrian-snap-election/). The ÖVP led the SPÖ by 16.3 points of the vote[8](https://www.electionstracker.com/austria/2019-legislative). Of the 183 members elected, 72 were women[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/).
In Vienna, the Greens more than tripled their share to 20.7 percent, overtaking the FPÖ, which fell to 12.8 percent; the SPÖ remained the largest party in the city with 27.1 percent[9](https://www.bundeswahlen.gv.at/2019/9.html).
## Government formation
After three months of negotiations, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed on a coalition government on 1 January 2020, promising to "protect the climate and borders"; President Van der Bellen swore in the new government led by Kurz on 7 January 2020[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/). It was the first coalition between the two parties at the national level and the first Austrian government to include the Greens[1](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/) • [10](https://hdgoe.at/ibiza_affair_en).
## Significance
The election produced a series of firsts: the first successful no-confidence vote had removed the preceding government, a woman, Brigitte Bierlein, had led the caretaker government in the interim, and the resulting coalition brought the Greens into federal government for the first time[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/ibizagate-capturing-a-political-field-in-flux/948A87C0203129247C7D9AD547E3B98D) • [10](https://hdgoe.at/ibiza_affair_en). The FPÖ's losses, while heavy at 9.8 points, were smaller than some observers had predicted after the scandal[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/ibizagate-capturing-a-political-field-in-flux/948A87C0203129247C7D9AD547E3B98D). The party later recovered, winning 28.8 percent in the September 2024 legislative election, while the ÖVP and the Greens of the 2019 coalition both lost support in the intervening years[11](https://apnews.com/article/d5de1b28909f9e469d8151a057dbb4ed).
## References
1. [Austria National Council September 2019 Election, IPU Parline](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/AT/AT-LC01/election/AT-LC01-E20190929/)
2. [Austria: Political Developments and Data in 2019, European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2047-8852.12298)
3. [Nationalratswahl 2019, Bundesministerium für Inneres](https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/nationalratswahlen/nationalratswahl_2019/)
4. ["Ibizagate": Capturing a Political Field in Flux, Austrian History Yearbook](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/ibizagate-capturing-a-political-field-in-flux/948A87C0203129247C7D9AD547E3B98D)
5. [Austria | 2019 Elections | CSIS](https://www.csis.org/programs/europe-russia-and-eurasia-program/projects/european-election-watch/2019-elections/austria)
6. [Elections FAQ, Austrian Parliament](https://www.parlament.gv.at/en/services/inquiry-service/faq/elections)
7. [A tale of firsts: the 2019 Austrian snap election, University of Vienna](https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a-tale-of-firsts-the-2019-austrian-snap-election/)
8. [Austria 2019 legislative election: results, Elections Tracker](https://www.electionstracker.com/austria/2019-legislative)
9. [Wien – Nationalratswahl 2019, Bundesministerium für Inneres](https://www.bundeswahlen.gv.at/2019/9.html)
10. [2019: Ibiza Affair, hdgö](https://hdgoe.at/ibiza_affair_en)
11. [A far-right leader could soon take the helm in EU member country Austria, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d5de1b28909f9e469d8151a057dbb4ed)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Elections and representation › Elections and referendums › National and subnational elections outside the US and UK › European elections outside the UK › Central European elections (Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license