Austrian People's Party

The Austrian People's Party^[c] is one of the biggest parties in Austria. It was founded in 1945.^[2] Its name roughly translates to Austrian People's party. It has about 630,000 members. Its views are often center-right. It opposes moderate socialism, which is embodied by the other big party SPÖ. Former Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel is a member of this party.^[3] Former Minister of the Interior Liese Prokop (d. 2006) was also a member.^[4]

Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei
Abbreviation	ÖVP
Chairperson	Christian Stocker
Secretary General	Alexander Pröll
Parliamentary leader	August Wöginger
Leader in the European Parliament	Reinhold Lopatka
Founded	17 April 1945; 80 years ago (1945-04-17)
Headquarters	Lichtenfelsgasse 7, 1010 First District, Vienna
Youth wing	Young People's Party
Party academy	Political Academy of the Austrian People's Party
Membership (2017)	c. 600,000[1][needs update]
Ideology	Pro-Europeanism Christian democracy Liberal conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
European affiliation	European People's Party
International affiliation	International Democracy Union
European Parliament group	European People's Party Group
Colours	Turquoise[a]   Black[b]
Governorships	5 / 9
Landtag Seats	136 / 440
Party flag
Political parties

Leaders

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Chancellor	Ref.
	Leopold Figl	17 April 1945	2 April 1953	Himself (ÖVP)	[5][6]
	Julius Raab	2 April 1953	11 April 1961	Himself (ÖVP)	[7]
	Alfons Gorbach	11 April 1961	2 April 1964	Himself (ÖVP)	[8]
	Josef Klaus	2 April 1964	21 April 1970	Himself (ÖVP)	[9]
	Hermann Withalm	21 April 1970	5 June 1971	Bruno Kreisky (SPÖ)
	Karl Schleinzer	5 June 1971	19 July 1975
	Josef Taus	19 July 1975	7 July 1979
	Alois Mock	7 July 1979	24 April 1989	Bruno Kreisky (SPÖ) Fred Sinowatz (SPÖ) Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ)	[10]
	Josef Riegler	24 April 1989	2 July 1991	Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ)
	Erhard Busek	2 July 1991	22 April 1995		[11]
	Wolfgang Schüssel	22 April 1995	21 April 2007	Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ) Viktor Klima (SPÖ) Himself (ÖVP) Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ)
	Wilhelm Molterer	21 April 2007	28 November 2008	Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ)	[12]
	Josef Pröll	28 November 2008	20 May 2011	Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ) Werner Faymann (SPÖ)	[13]
	Michael Spindelegger	20 May 2011	26 August 2014	Werner Faymann (SPÖ)
	Reinhold Mitterlehner	8 November 2014	15 May 2017	Werner Faymann (SPÖ) Himself (ÖVP) Christian Kern (SPÖ)	[14]
	Sebastian Kurz	15 May 2017	3 December 2021	Christian Kern (SPÖ) Himself (ÖVP) Brigitte Bierlein (Independent Bierlein Government) Himself (ÖVP) Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP)	[15]
	Karl Nehammer	3 December 2021	5 January 2025	Himself (ÖVP)	[16]
	Christian Stocker	5 January 2025	Incumbent	Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) Himself (ÖVP)

Election results

National Council

National Council of Austria

Election year	# of total votes	% of overall vote	# of seats	Government
1945	1,602,227 (1st)	49.8%	85 (1st)	ÖVP-SPÖ-KPÖ Majority
1949	1,846,581 (1st)	44.0%	77 (1st)	ÖVP-SPÖ Majority
1953	1,781,777 (2nd)	41.3%	74 (1st)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
1956	1,999,986 (1st)	46.0	82 (1st)	ÖVP-SPÖ Majority
1959	1,928,043 (2nd)	44.2%	79 (1st)	ÖVP-SPÖ Majority
1962	2,024,501 (1st)	45.4%	81 (1st)	ÖVP-SPÖ Majority
1966	2,191,109 (1st)	48.3%	85 (1st)	ÖVP Majority
1970	2,051,012 (2nd)	44.7%	78 (2nd)	in opposition
1971	1,964,713 (2nd)	43.1%	80 (2nd)	in opposition
1975	1,981,291 (2nd)	42.9%	80 (2nd)	in opposition
1979	1,981,739 (2nd)	41.9%	77 (2nd)	in opposition
1983	2,097,808 (2nd)	43.2%	81 (2nd)	in opposition
1986	2,003,663 (2nd)	41.3%	77 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
1990	1,508,600 (2nd)	32.1%	60 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
1994	1,281,846 (2nd)	27.7%	52 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
1995	1,370,510 (2nd)	28.3%	52 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
1999	1,243,672 (3rd)	26.9%	52 (2nd)	ÖVP-FPÖ Majority
2002	2,076,833 (1st)	42.3%	79 (1st)	ÖVP-FPÖ Majority
2006	1,616,493 (2nd)	34.3%	66 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
2008	1,269,656 (2nd)	26.0%	51 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
2013	1,125,876 (2nd)	24.0%	47 (2nd)	SPÖ-ÖVP Majority
2017	1,341,930 (1st)	31.4%	62 (1st)	ÖVP-FPÖ Majority

European Parliament

European Parliament

Election year	# of total votes	% of overall vote	# of seats
1996	1,124,921 (1st)	29.7%	7
1999	859,175 (2nd)	30.7%	7
2004	817,716 (2nd)	32.7%	6
2009	858,921 (1st)	30.0%	6
2014	761,896 (1st)	27.0%	5

Footnotes

1. Since 2017
2. Until 2017
3. German: Österreichische Volkspartei, shortenend to ÖVP