SPÖ with an increase in votes

Clear number one: Ludwig has a good laugh in Vienna

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH/picturedesk.com)

"Red" Vienna lived up to its reputation on Sunday. In the federal capital, the SPÖ was not only able to defend its first place, but even managed to gain votes. The FPÖ took second place after its crash in 2019, but follows at a respectable distance.

According to the provisional final result, the SPÖ came in at 29.9%, an increase of 2.8 percentage points compared to 2019. Although the FPÖ can be pleased about an increase of 8.3 percentage points, it is still well behind the Reds with 21.2% and was also stronger in the 1999 and 2017 National Council elections. The ÖVP came in at 17.6% (down 7 percentage points) and the Greens at 12% (down 8.7 percentage points). The NEOS achieved 11%, a small increase of 1.2 percentage points.

Beer Party fell short of expectations
The results for the small parties can certainly be seen as a surprise. The Beer Party, which had long been expected to do very well in polls concerning Vienna, had to make do with 2.1 percent. On the other hand, the KPÖ achieved 3.7 percent.

Green strongholds go to SPÖ
A look at the districts clearly shows where the Social Democrats succeeded: in the former Green strongholds. In 2019, the ecological party was at the top of the podium in many inner districts as well as in Hernals and Währing. That is history; the SPÖ made its biggest gains in these regions. It gained well over 10 percentage points in Neubau, for example, where the 30 percent mark was just exceeded.

The FPÖ had little chance in these districts; as usual, it was strong in the rural districts, where the SPÖ had to accept slight losses in some cases. The FPÖ even came first in one district: In the home of Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), of all places, the blue party trumped the SPÖ, even if the race was close. According to the provisional final result, the FPÖ achieved 30.2 percent (plus 11.4 percentage points), the SPÖ 29.5 percent (minus 0.7 percentage points). However, the postal votes that have not yet been counted could still bring changes here.

FPÖ makes significant gains in Favoriten
In other large districts, the SPÖ retained the upper hand, for example in Simmering - where the Blue Party has already once been the district leader - and in Favoriten, where recent cases of knife crime have caused a stir. Here, however, the FPÖ was relatively close on the heels of the SPÖ. In Favoriten, for example, the SPÖ achieved 33.2 percent, a loss of 3.6 percentage points. The FPÖ gained 27.8 percent - an increase of more than 10 percentage points.

Bitter defeat for the Greens
The Greens suffered a bitter defeat in Vienna, where they had been in government for ten years. They were unable to win any more districts. Once again, they achieved their best result in Vienna-Neubau. However, the 22.1 percent there can be seen as a crash. The drop in the 7th district amounted to 15.4 percentage points.

While the Greens are no longer the strongest party in any district, the ÖVP remained ahead in its strongholds of Innere Stadt, Döbling and Hietzing, even if there were losses there as in all districts. In the first district, the People's Party came in at just under 31% (minus 5.6 percentage points), which was also the turquoise highlight of the evening. The NEOS, which made gains in all districts, also achieved its best result in the city, where a pink vote share of 18.9% was recorded.

Vienna elects municipal council in 2025
The federal capital itself is now likely to come into focus relatively quickly. This is because the municipal council will be elected in a year's time in red-pink governed Vienna. There have been few forecasts for this election so far, which is also likely to change soon. In 2020, the SPÖ came in slightly down at just under 42%, while the Greens and NEOS made gains. The Blue Party plummeted to just under 8 percent of the vote, while the ÖVP doubled to more than 20 percent.