Styrian Parliament

FPÖ now has 17 MPs – but only one woman

Three new FPÖ MPs: Lucas Geistler, Eva Maria Kroismayr-Baier and Stefan Resch

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/FPÖ Steiermark, Jürgen Radspieler, stock.adobe.com)

Not all questions have been clarified yet, but the fog is clearing on the question of who the 48 members of the Styrian parliament will be in the future. The FPÖ will be by far the strongest parliamentary group in the next five years - 16 of the 17 members are men! You can find the current overview here.

In future, the Freedom Party will make up more than a third of all members of parliament, specifically 17 mandataries. And in this case, gendering is not really necessary: Among these 17 people, there is only one woman, businesswoman Eva Maria Kroismayr-Baier from Schladming. Julia Koszednar from Söding narrowly missed out on the 18th Freedom Party mandate and thus a seat in the state parliament.

In addition to the existing MPs, there are many new faces, such as Graz local councillor Günter Wagner. Michael Wagner, Luca-André Geistler and Willibald Spörk from Eastern Styria have made it into parliament for the first time, while Stefan Resch, who, like Thomas Maier from Upper Styria, works in the army, comes from Western Styria. However, there are also familiar faces among the newcomers, such as Arnd Meißl from Mürzzuschlag, Peter Samt from Gössendorf and Gerhard Hirschmann, who lost his seat in 2020 after a coronavirus party.

Many unanswered questions for the ÖVP
The People's Party will have 13 representatives in the Styrian state parliament in future, five fewer than before. However, it is still partly unclear who the representatives will be - as the current members of the provincial government are on the top of the lists. Will they stay in government? If they leave office, will they accept a seat in the state parliament? That will probably only become clear in the coming weeks.

However, some things are already certain: Franz Fartek, Silvia Karelly and Lukas Schnitzer have managed to re-enter parliament in Eastern Styria, with the fourth basic mandate likely to go to Theresia Heil from Pöllauberg. Julia Paar comes away empty-handed.

New in the state parliament: ÖVP mayor Klaudia Stroißnig

(Bild: Teresa Rotwangl)

In Western Styria, the mayor of Geistthal-Södingberg, Klaudia Stroißnig, has won a seat, while Wildon farmer Gerald Holler's re-entry is still in doubt. In Upper Styria, Armin Forstner, Manuela Khom and Bruno Aschenbrenner made it, but Cornelia Izzo did not.

Michaela Grubesa is kicked out of parliament
The SPÖ will have just ten representatives in the future provincial parliament. As with the ÖVP, who takes the seats will depend in part on the formation of the government, as Anton Lang and Ursula Lackner, for example, are represented in top seats. On the other hand, the previous state councillor Doris Kampus has already announced in advance that she will no longer be available for the government - she will become an ordinary member of parliament.

The mayor of Neudau, Wolfgang Dolesch, his Eibiswald counterpart Andreas Thürschweller and the Upper Styrians Stefan Hofer, Gabriele Kolar (currently the second state parliament president) and Helga Ahrer have definitely made it back in. Bitter: The fourth Upper Styrian basic mandate was narrowly missed, meaning that Michaela Grubesa from Aussee is out of parliament. Bernadette Kerschler from Leibnitz also missed out on re-entry. No premiere for Christina Winter da Silva from Gutenberg.

Michaela Grubesa loses her seat in parliament

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail)

KPÖ, Greens, Neos: Who is moving in
As before, the KPÖ is represented by two members of parliament. Club leader Claudia Klimt-Weithaler is set to succeed Werner Murgg, while Alexander Melinz from Graz will take his place. 

Second member of parliament for the KPÖ: Alexander Melinz

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

Instead of six, there will only be three Green representatives in the state parliament. In addition to top candidate Sandra Krautwaschl and the experienced Upper Styrian Lambert Schönleitner, there is also Veronika Nitsche from Graz, a native Tyrolean who specializes in social policy.

And there was great rejoicing among the NEOS on Monday. Now that the last ballot cards have been counted, it is clear that they will have three representatives (previously two) in the Styrian state parliament: Club chairman Niko Swatek, lateral entrant Bettina Schoeller and Robert Reif from Upper Styria, who managed to get back into parliament at the last minute.