National Council election

FPÖ makes gains, plucked VP maintains first place

Christof Bitschi and his FPÖ are the big winners - and now have a tailwind for the state elections.

(Bild: APA/FPÖ)

One big winner - and many losers: basically only the Freedom Party can rejoice at the Vorarlberg result in the National Council elections, all other parties have bitter pills to swallow.

The stiff breeze from the right had already been announced in advance - and on election Sunday it actually blew across the political landscape in Vorarlberg with full force. With 27.5 percent, the Freedom Party can celebrate a brilliant result; only in 1999 (30.2 percent) did the blue party do better in a national council election in the state. The result is all the more remarkable when you consider where the FPÖ is coming from: in the National Council elections five years ago, the Freedom Party, which was hit by the Ibiza affair at the time, received just 15.4 percent of the vote, so the gain is 12.1 percent - another historic mark.

Vorarlberg ÖVP suffers historic debacle
Perhaps a 25-year-old student who is hardly known in this country - namely Manuel Litzke from Bludenz, who will now join Thomas Spalt in the National Council - will be the happiest personally. As before, the Vorarlberg People's Party will also have two members of the National Council. In view of the severe losses of over nine percent, however, this is only a small consolation. With 29.4 percent of the vote, first place was narrowly defended, but the bottom line is the second worst result in history in a National Council election.

However, the Vorarlberg Greens had the bitterest pill to swallow: With 11.2 percent, they are just in fourth place, and Nina Tomaselli's mandate is also gone - a shock for the Feldkirch woman, who had built up a brilliant reputation with her dedicated work in the National Council. However, SPÖ newcomer Antonio Della Rossa has secured a place in parliament. In view of the disastrous federal result, the Reds (13.0 percent) did not pop the champagne corks.

Johannes Gasser probably won't make it in
The Vorarlberg NEOS were not in a champagne mood either, but at least the Pinks achieved their minimum target: the losses were limited at 0.4 percent, but top candidate Johannes Gasser is likely to have missed out on entering the Vienna National Council by a wafer-thin margin.

Speaking of Vienna: Vorarlberg will probably only have five representatives in the National Council. In view of the fact that two Vorarlberg federal ministers, Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) and Johannes Rauch (Greens), are also stepping down, the influence in the federal capital is likely to shrink considerably, especially as it is currently unlikely that there will be a man or woman from Vorarlberg in the future federal government. This is not good news.