The victory march of the national conservative Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), a founding member of the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group continued on Sunday, April 27th, as the party jumped from last place to a strong second in the Viennese state parliament with nearly 21% of the votes, tripling its previous showing from 2020.
FPÖ, the winner of last year’s federal election, has been the most popular party in Austria for nearly three years now and currently leads the country-wide polls with 34%, far above the establishment parties in the ruling coalition, the socialist SPD and the center-right ÖVP, both at 21%. Party leader Herbert Kickl, meanwhile, is the number one choice for chancellor at 38%.
However, Vienna has long been regarded as a mainstream stronghold, where nationalist parties have no chance to compete. Sunday’s state election changed this state of affairs dramatically, as FPÖ not only received an unprecedented increase in vote share of nearly 14 points (going from 7.1% to 20.8%) but even switched places with the center-right ÖVP.
The socialist SPÖ—which has been in charge of Vienna without interruption for eighty years—retained its first place for now, albeit with a 2-point decrease (from 41% to 39%). However, the ÖVP has been dethroned from its long-held spot just below the socialists and finished in last place while losing over half of its vote share (dropping from 20.4% to just 9.7%).
While most of the disillusioned ÖVP voters backed FPÖ this time, a portion of the Greens and the Socialists went over to the liberal NEOS, the SPÖ’s current coalition partner, which finished in 4th place with its best results so far, 9.8%. The socialist-liberal coalition in the state parliament, therefore, will likely continue, at least for one more term.
Alle Wahlsprengel sind nun ausgezählt. Das ist das vorläufige Ergebnis der Wiener Gemeinderatswahl 2025. #wienwahl25 pic.twitter.com/EhrVmT2ng9
— Stadt Wien (@Stadt_Wien) April 27, 2025
Several lessons can be drawn from these results, if only the establishment would listen. For one, they show that immigration has become the number one concern of the Viennese as well as Austrians in general, as the catastrophic effects of multiculturalism and unchecked mass migration have been at the center of FPÖ’s messaging throughout the campaign—contrasted with SPÖ’s failures to curb the rising crime in the Austrian capital.
And the concerns that Vienna might soon lose its historical European character are valid. While Muslims make up only 8% of the city’s population, they are now the largest religious community among schoolkids—41% of Viennese students are Muslim, while only 34% of them are Christian.
The other main lesson concerns the center-right ÖVP, which is clearly being punished by its voters for refusing to form a federal government coalition with the Freedom Party and instead joining the Left. It’s the same trend that can be observed in many other EU countries, especially in Germany, where the nationalist AfD has now surpassed the election-winning CDU in the polls in just weeks after the Christian Democrats decided to form a coalition with the socialists and abandon much of its electoral promises in the process.
The so-called “center-right” and “Christian-Democratic” parties in Europe all face the same choice. The time for grand coalitions between the Left and Right is over, as voters expect the center-right parties to take a strong stance, especially regarding migration, and to finally put the Christian back in “Christian-Democratic.” If they don’t, the continuous betrayal of voters will lead them to the same fate as Austria’s ÖVP, and they will end up being trusted—and elected—by no one.
SPÖ-Wien-Wahlfinale vs. FPÖ-Wien-Wahlfinale – macht euch selbst ein Bild! 😉 pic.twitter.com/kaG2LhZGOl
— FPÖ (@FPOE_TV) April 25, 2025
