Political background The FPÖ is a descendant of the
pan-German and
national liberal camp (
Lager) dating back to the
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. During the
interwar era, the national liberal camp (gathered in the
Greater German People's Party) fought against the mutually hostile
Christian Social and
Marxist camps in their struggles to structure the new republic according to their respective ideologies. After
a short civil war, the
Fatherland Front established the
Federal State of Austria, an Austrofascist dictatorship, in 1934. By 1938, with the
Anschluss of Austria into
Nazi Germany, the national liberal camp (which had always striven for an inclusion of Austria into a
Greater Germany) had been swallowed whole by
Austrian National Socialism, and all other parties were eventually absorbed into Nazi totalitarianism. Both Socialists and Christian Socials were persecuted under the Nazi regime, and the national liberal camp was scarred after the war due to
guilt by association with National Socialism. In 1949, the
Federation of Independents (VdU) was founded as a national liberal alternative to the main Austrian parties—the
Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), successors to the interwar-era Marxist and Christian Social parties. The VdU was founded by two liberal
Salzburg journalists—former prisoners of Nazi Germany—who wanted to stay clear of the mainstream
socialist and
Catholic camps and feared that hostility following the hastily devised postwar
denazification policy (which did not distinguish between party members and actual war criminals) might stimulate a revival of Nazism. Aiming to become a political home to everyone not a member of the two main parties, the VdU incorporated an array of political movements—including free-market liberals, populists, former Nazis and German nationalists, all of whom had been unable to join either of the two main parties. The VdU won 12% of the vote in the
1949 general election, but saw its support begin to decline soon afterward. It evolved into the FPÖ by 1955/56 after merging with the minor Freedom Party in 1955; a new party was formed on 17 October 1955, and its founding congress was held on 7 April 1956.
Early years (1956–1980) The FPÖ started shortly after the Austrian government effectively ended
Austrian denazification, which many experts describe as half-hearted. This paved the way for former Nazis to once again gain positions of power, and indeed the first FPÖ party leader was
Anton Reinthaller, a former Nazi Minister of Agriculture and SS officer. He had been asked by ÖVP Chancellor
Julius Raab to take over the movement rather than let it be led by a more socialist-leaning group. At the time of the party's founding, former Nazis formed a greater percentage of FPÖ members than the other contemporary parties. However over time the former Nazis rebranded themselves as centrists pursuing pragmatic, non-ideological policies, and the FPÖ presented itself as a moderate party. After the
1970 election, the FPÖ became the kingmaker and supported an SPÖ
minority government led by Chancellor
Bruno Kreisky. During the years under Peter the party never won more than 8% of the national vote in general elections, and generally did not have much political significance.
Steger leadership (1980–1986) Liberal
Norbert Steger was chosen as new FPÖ party leader in 1980; in an effort to gain popularity, he helped the FPÖ become established as a moderate centrist liberal party. His vision was to transform the FPÖ into an Austrian version of the German
Free Democratic Party (FDP), focusing on free-market and anti-statist policies. In 1983, the right-wing
Jörg Haider took over the leadership of the FPÖ's significant
Carinthia branch. Its importance dated to the
Kärntner Abwehrkampf (Carinthian defensive struggle) following
World War I, and subsequent
anti-Slavic sentiment arising from a fear of being taken over by
Yugoslavia. Encouraged by the
mass media, a struggle soon developed between Steger and Haider over the future of the party. In the 1985 Reder case, for instance, Haider staunchly supported FPÖ Minister of Defence
Friedhelm Frischenschlager when the latter welcomed convicted
Waffen-SS war criminal
Walter Reder in person when Reder arrived at
Graz Airport after his release from Italy. While the FPÖ struggled with its low support at the national level in the mid-1980s, this was in sharp contrast to the party's position in Haider's Carinthia (where the party had increased its support from 11.7% in the 1979 provincial election to 16% in 1984). During the 1986 National Convention in
Innsbruck, the internal struggle developed into an open conflict; this led Haider to victory as new FPÖ party leader with 58% of the vote, supported by
conservative and
pan-German factions. However, incoming SPÖ Chancellor
Franz Vranitzky—who also entered office in 1986—had strong negative feelings towards Haider, who he felt was too
far-right. Vranitzky subsequently announced an
election in 1986, in the process disbanding the SPÖ-FPÖ "Small Coalition" and, after the election, entered into a coalition with the ÖVP. Under Haider's leadership, the FPÖ increased its vote to 9.7%, while the party gradually became more right-wing and its former liberal influence waned. As the FPÖ increased its electoral support with Haider's radical-populist rhetoric, the party reduced its chances of forming coalitions with other parties.
Haider leadership (1986–2000) With Jörg Haider as the new party leader, the 1989 Carinthia provincial election caused a sensation; the SPÖ lost its
majority and the ÖVP was relegated to third-party status, as the FPÖ finished second with 29% of the vote. The FPÖ formed a coalition with the ÖVP, with Haider as Governor of Carinthia (at this point his greatest political triumph). By the
1990 general election the party had moved away from the liberal mainstream course, instead focusing on
immigration and becoming increasingly critical of the political establishment and the EU. Following a remark made by Haider in 1991 about the "decent employment policy" of
Nazi Germany (in contrast to that of the current Austrian government), he was removed as governor by a joint SPÖ-ÖVP initiative and replaced by the ÖVP's Christof Zernatto. Later that year, however, the FPÖ saw gains made in three provincial elections (most notably in
Vienna). While Haider often employed controversial rhetoric, his expressed political goals included small government with more
direct democracy. Following the increasing importance of immigration as a political issue, in 1993 the party decided to launch the "Austria First!" initiative (calling for a
referendum on immigration issues). The initiative was controversial and five FPÖ MPs, including
Heide Schmidt, left the party and founded the
Liberal Forum (LiF). The FPÖ's relations with the
Liberal International also became increasingly strained, and later that year the FPÖ left the Li (which was preparing to expel it). In turn, the LiF soon joined the Liberal International instead. In 1999, Haider was again elected Governor of Carinthia.
Coalition government (2000–2005) In the
1999 general election the FPÖ won 27% of the votes, more than in any previous election—beating the ÖVP for the first time by a small margin. In February 2000, the ÖVP agreed to form a coalition government with the FPÖ. Normally, Haider should have become
federal chancellor. However, it soon became apparent that Haider was too controversial to be part of the government, let alone lead it. Amid intense international criticism of the FPÖ's participation in the government, the FPÖ ceded the chancellorship to
Wolfgang Schüssel of the ÖVP. As a concession to the FPÖ, the party was given the power to appoint the Ministers of Finance and Social Affairs. Later that month Haider stepped down as party chairman, replaced by
Susanne Riess-Passer. Having threatened a diplomatic boycott of Austria, the other fourteen
European Union (EU) countries introduced
sanctions after the government had been formed; other than formal EU meetings, contacts with Austria were reduced. The measures were justified by the EU, which stated that "the admission of the FPÖ into a coalition government legitimises the extreme right in Europe." The party had been kept on the sidelines for most of the Second Republic, except for its brief role in government in the 1980s. Along with the party's origins and its focus on issues such as immigration and questions of identity and belonging, the party had been subjected to a strategy of
cordon sanitaire by the SPÖ and ÖVP. The EU sanctions were lifted in September after a report had found that the measures were effective only in the short term; in the long run, they might give rise to an anti-EU backlash. Some observers noted an inconsistency in that there had been no sanctions against Italy when the post-fascist
Italian Social Movement/
National Alliance had entered government in 1994. The FPÖ struggled with its shift from an anti-establishment party to being part of the government, which led to decreasing internal stability and electoral support. Its
blue collar voters became unhappy with the party's need to support some
neo-liberal ÖVP economic reforms; the government's peak in unpopularity occurred when tax reform was postponed at the same time that the government was planning to purchase new interceptor jets. Internecine strife erupted in the party over strategy between party members in government and Haider, who allied himself with the party's grassroots. Several prominent FPÖ government ministers resigned in the 2002 "
Knittelfeld Putsch" after strong attacks by Haider, which led to new elections being called. In the subsequent election campaign, the party was deeply divided and unable to organise an effective political strategy. It changed leaders five times in less than two months, and in the
2002 general election decreased its share of the vote to 10.2%, almost two-thirds less than its previous share. Most of its voters sided with the ÖVP, which became the largest party in Austria with 43% of the vote. Nevertheless, the coalition government of the ÖVP and FPÖ was revived after the election; however, there was increasing criticism within the FPÖ against the party's mission of winning elections at any cost.
Haider's departure for BZÖ After an internal row had threatened to tear the FPÖ apart, former chairman
Jörg Haider, then-chairwoman and his sister
Ursula Haubner, vice chancellor
Hubert Gorbach and all of the FPÖ ministers left the party and on 4 April 2005 founded a new political party called the
Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). Austria's chancellor
Wolfgang Schüssel followed, changing his coalition with the FPÖ into cooperation with the BZÖ. In Haider's stronghold of
Carinthia, the
local FPÖ branch became the Carinthia branch of the BZÖ.
Strache's early leadership (2005–2017) The FPÖ fared much better than the BZÖ in polls following the 2005 split, with the first tests in regional elections in
Styria and
Burgenland. On 23 April 2005
Heinz-Christian Strache was elected as new chairman of the FPÖ, taking over from interim leader
Hilmar Kabas. As most of the party's office-seeking elite had gone over to the BZÖ, the FPÖ was again free from responsibility. Under Strache the party's ideology grew more radical, and it returned to its primary goal of vote-maximising. The FPÖ did reasonably well in that October's
Vienna election, in which Strache was the leading candidate and ran a campaign directed strongly against
immigration. It took a 14.9% share, while the BZÖ won just 1.2%. By the
2006 general election, the FPÖ returned to promoting anti-immigration, anti-Islam and Eurosceptic issues. It won 11% of the vote and 21 seats in parliament, while the BZÖ only barely passed the 4% threshold needed to enter Parliament. The subsequent coalition between the SPÖ and the ÖVP left both parties in opposition. In the
2008 general election both the FPÖ and the BZÖ rose significantly at the expense of the SPÖ and the ÖVP. Both parties increased their percentage of the vote by about 6.5%, with the FPÖ at 17.4% and the BZÖ at 10.7%— together gaining 28.2%, and thus both breaking the record vote for the FPÖ in the 1999 election. In the
2009 European Parliament election the FPÖ doubled its 2004 results, winning 12.8% of the vote and 2 seats. In December 2009 the local Carinthia branch of the BZÖ, its stronghold, broke away and founded the
Freedom Party in Carinthia (FPK); it cooperated with the FPÖ at the federal level, modeling itself on the German
CDU/CSU relationship. The leader of the branch, Uwe Scheuch, had fallen out with BZÖ leader
Josef Bucher after the latter had introduced a "moderate, right-wing liberal" and more economically oriented ideology. In the
2010 Vienna elections, the FPÖ increased its vote to 25.8% (slightly less than the record result of 1996); this was seen as a victory for Strache, due to his popularity among young people. This was only the second time in the postwar era that the SPÖ lost its
absolute majority in the city. After its convention in early 2011 midway between general elections, the FPÖ had a support in opinion polls of around 24–29%—at par with the SPÖ and ÖVP, and above the BZÖ. Among people under 30 years of age, the FPÖ had the support of 42%. In the
2013 legislative election the party obtained 20.51% of votes, while BZÖ scored 3.53% and lost all of its seats. After the election SPÖ and ÖVP renewed their coalition and FPÖ remained in opposition. In June 2015 the main part of the federal party section of
Salzburg split off and formed the
Free Party Salzburg. In the
2016 Austrian presidential election, Freedom Party candidate
Norbert Hofer won the first round of the election, receiving 35.1% of the vote, making that election the Freedom Party's best ever election result in its history. However, in the second round, Hofer was defeated by
Alexander Van der Bellen, who received the support of 50.3% compared to Hofer's 49.7%. In July first the
Constitutional Court of Austria voided the results of the second round due to mishandling of postal votes; although the court did not find evidence of deliberate manipulation. The re-vote took place on 4 December 2016 when Van der Bellen won by a significantly larger margin.
Coalition government (2017–2019) In the
2017 Austrian legislative election, the FPÖ obtained 26% of votes, increased its seats by eleven seats to 51 seats, achieving its best result since the 1999 election. It was leading every other party until
Sebastian Kurz became the leader of the ÖVP, and polling still predicted it would reach second place. Despite the FPÖ's decline in support during the election campaign, it still achieved an ideological victory as Austria's governing parties, particularly the ÖVP under Kurz The FPÖ entered coalition talks with the ÖVP, and in December 2017, they reached an agreement and created
a coalition government. The FPÖ gained control over six ministries, including defense, the interior, and foreign affairs. During the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition, the
BVT intelligence agency was raided, an event that led to significant political fallout and allegations of FPÖ involvement.
Ibiza affair (May 2019) In mid-May 2019, secretly made footage was released, apparently showing Strache soliciting funds for the party from a purported Russian national. In the video, Strache also suggests his intention to censor the Austrian media in a way that would favor the FPÖ, citing the media landscape of Orban's
Hungary. The footage led to the collapse of the coalition with the ÖVP on 20 May 2019.
Post-Ibiza era (2019–present) In the
2019 general election the party's support collapsed to 16%, down from 26% in 2017. In the aftermath of the election they collapsed to a record low of 10% in April 2020, but as of November 2022 they have stabilized to around 23–25%.
Norbert Hofer replaced Strache as party leader in September 2019, just before the election. He resigned on 1 June 2021. On 7 June 2021,
Herbert Kickl was elected the new leader of the party by the central party committee, a process that was made official at a party convention vote on 19 June 2021. In the
2024 Austrian legislative election the Party's support increased from 16% to 29.2% of the vote, placing first and achieving its best result in the party's history. Since then, the party has rapidly surged upwards in many different polls, reaching 35–37% in many polls. Following the collapse of coalition talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS, Kickl was appointed to form Austria's next government. In February 2025, after five weeks of negotiations with the ÖVP, Herbert Kickl failed to form a government coalition. == Ideology and platform ==