The chancellor of Austria, officially the federal chancellor the Republic of Austria, is the head of government of the Republic of Austria.
Politics in Austria reflects the dynamics of competition among multiple political parties, which led to the formation of a Conservative-Green coalition government for the first time in January 2020, following the snap elections of 29 September 2019, and the election of a former Green Party leader to the presidency in 2016.
The president of Austria is the head of state of the Republic of Austria.
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, eurosceptic and russophile. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five parties in the National Council, with 58 of the 183 seats, and won 29.21% of votes cast in the 2024 election and it is represented in all nine state legislatures. On a European level, the FPÖ is a founding member of the Patriots.eu and its six MEPs sit with the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group following the dissolution of its predecessor, Identity and Democracy (ID).
Sebastian Kurz is an Austrian former politician who served twice as the 26th chancellor of Austria, initially from December 2017 to May 2019 and then a second time from January 2020 to October 2021. On 23 February 2024, Kurz received an eight-month suspended sentence after being convicted of perjury by a court in Vienna over his involvement in a parliamentary inquiry.
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 15 October 2017 to elect the 26th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called when the coalition government between the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) was dissolved in May by the latter party's new leader Sebastian Kurz.
Norbert Gerwald Hofer is an Austrian politician who was the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) from June 2019 to June 2021. He previously served as minister of transport, innovation, and technology from 2017 to 2019 under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Herbert Kickl is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since June 2021. He previously served as minister of the interior from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPÖ from 2005 to 2018. He has been described as a far-right politician. Kickl calls himself Volkskanzler and advocates a Fortress Austria and Remigration.
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2019 to elect the 27th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called in the wake of the Ibiza affair in May, which caused the resignation of Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and the collapse of the governing coalition of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). The government subsequently lost a motion of no confidence in parliament, before ÖVP Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was replaced by non-partisan Brigitte Bierlein on an interim basis.
The First Kurz government was the 30th Government of Austria in office from 18 December 2017 until 3 June 2019. It succeeded the Kern government formed after the 2017 legislative election. Sebastian Kurz, chairman of the centre-right Austrian People's Party, known by its initials in German as ÖVP, reached an agreement on a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), setting the stage for Kurz to become chancellor of Austria—the youngest head of government in Europe—for the first time.
Mario Kunasek is an Austrian politician and noncommissioned officer, who was the Minister of Defense from December 2017 to May 2019.
Brigitte Bierlein was an Austrian jurist who served as president of the Constitutional Court before serving as chancellor of Austria from June 2019 until January 2020. An independent, she was the first woman to hold either office.
Eckart Ratz is an Austrian jurist who served as a judge and the president of the Supreme Court of Justice. From 2011 to 2012 he was a vice president of the Supreme Court.
On 22 May 2019, he was appointed Austrian minister of the interior, replacing Herbert Kickl who had been dismissed from office by President Alexander Van der Bellen. Originally, Ratz was going to serve as a cabinet minister of the transitional government until the General Elections in fall 2019; however, the entire second Kurz government was ousted by a vote of no-confidence, after it lost support in parliament by the former coalition partner FPÖ.
Events from the year 2019 in Austria.
The Ibiza affair, also known as Ibiza-gate, was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former vice chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), as well as Johann Gudenus, formerly a deputy leader of the Freedom Party.
The Second Kurz government was the 33rd Government of Austria. Led by Sebastian Kurz as chancellor and Werner Kogler as vice-chancellor, it was sworn in by President Alexander Van der Bellen on 7 January 2020. It was officially dissolved and succeeded by the Schallenberg government on 11 October 2021.
Karl Nehammer is an Austrian politician who has been the 29th chancellor of Austria since 2021. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously was Minister of the Interior from 2020 to 2021, general secretary of the ÖVP from 2018 to 2020, as well as a member of the National Council from 2017 to 2020. Nehammer assumed the chancellorship as the successor of Alexander Schallenberg, who resigned to return as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2024 to elect the 28th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.
