2006 Austrian legislative election

2006 Austrian legislative election
← 2002 1 October 2006 2008 →
All 183 seats in the National Council
92 seats needed for a majority
Turnout78.5% (Decrease 5.8pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Alfred Gusenbauer Wolfgang Schüssel Alexander Van der Bellen
Party SPÖ ÖVP Greens
Last election 36.5%, 69 seats 42.3%, 79 seats 9.5%, 17 seats
Seats won 68 66 21
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 13 Increase 4
Popular vote 1,663,986 1,616,493 520,130
Percentage 35.3% 34.3% 11.1%
Swing Decrease 1.2pp Decrease 8.0pp Increase 1.6pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Heinz-Christian Strache Peter Westenthaler
Party FPÖ BZÖ
Last election 10.0%, 18 seats –
Seats won 21 7
Seat change Increase 3 New
Popular vote 519,598 193,539
Percentage 11.0% 4.1%
Swing Increase 1.0pp New
Chancellor before election

Wolfgang Schüssel
ÖVP

Elected Chancellor

Alfred Gusenbauer
SPÖ

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of Austria
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Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger •

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Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.

The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly overtaken by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). The Greens became the third largest party for the first time, while the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) fell to fourth for the first time since its establishment in 1956. The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), competing in its first national election, narrowly passed the 4% electoral threshold, despite opinion polling which indicated it would fall short.

After the 2002 election, the ÖVP formed government with the FPÖ; in 2005, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) split from the FPÖ. Most of the FPÖ's National Council deputies joined the new party, which replaced the FPÖ as the junior partner in government. As a result of the 2006 election, the ÖVP–BZÖ coalition lost its majority. After three months of negotiations, the SPÖ and ÖVP formed a grand coalition under SPÖ leader Alfred Gusenbauer, which took office on 11 January 2007.