For the majority of Austrians, voting for the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ)—known for its numerous scandals and close ties to (Neo-) National Socialism—used to be socially unacceptable; moreover, its supporters were overwhelmingly male. The last parliamentary election demonstrates that this is not the case anymore.

On the Social Acceptability of the Austrian Far Right and the (Closure of the) Gender Gap

On 27 September 2024, two days before the last Austrian parliamentary elections, candidates of Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) attended a funeral of a former FPÖ politician and member of the German-national fraternity “Olympia.” At this funeral, the Schutzstaffel (SS)-hymn for Loyalty and Relay (“Treue- und Staffellied”) was sung (SS stands for “Schutzstaffel,” which was the security force of Adolf Hitler). A video of the funeral showing both the FPÖ officials attending and people singing the SS-hymn was released shortly after and circulated in the media. It is unclear whether the FPÖ politicians joined the singing of the SS-song. Nevertheless, its members did not leave the funeral when this occurred.

Two days later, at the Austrian parliamentary election on 29 September 2024, the FPÖ emerged as the biggest winner. Except for the parliamentary election of 1999, when the FPÖ received 26.9 percent of the votes and came second before the Christian Socialist party ÖVP, the FPÖ typically came third or fourth in votes. In the parliamentary election of 2024, it reached its historical peak by receiving 28.8 percent of the votes and coming first for the first time in the party’s history; 2.5 percent ahead of the conservative Christian Socialists (ÖVP), and 7.7 percent ahead of Social Democrats (SPÖ), who used to be the two largest parties in parliament. The FPÖ increased its electoral share by 12.6 percent and 26 seats (16.2 percent and 31 seats in 2019). The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) also improved their performance by one percentage point and 3 seats, respectively. The two governmental parties (ÖVP and the Greens), however, experienced losses; 11.2 percentage points and 20 seats for the ÖVP and 5.7 percentage points and ten seats for the Greens. The SPÖ lost 0.1 percent of electoral share, but gained one additional seat. Overall, the turnout in 2024 was 77.7 percent, slightly higher than the previous national election (75.6 percent) in 2019.

Until recently, most Austrians would not openly declare themselves as FPÖ-voters because of its origins as the “repository” (in German: “Auffangbecken”) of the National Socialists (Nazis) after the Second World War. In the last couple of years, however, the FPÖ has experienced massive growth in support and followers, becoming mainstream. As a result, openly supporting the FPÖ and its leader Herbert Kickl, who calls himself “Volkskanzler” (i.e., ”people’s chancellor ”)—a term used by Adolf Hitler—has gained greater social acceptability (“Salonfähigkeit”). This is partly due to the FPÖ’s increasing presence in Austrian politics and its participation in coalitions at the regional and federal levels. And now, with almost 35 percent electoral share, the FPÖ will head the Styrian government. In this regard, the Austrian far right differs from its counterpart in Germany where supporting the AfD is still perceived as socially unacceptable.

Recent developments, like wars (which result in migration flows) and the pandemic, have also benefited the FPÖ. The FPÖ opposed other parties in parliament on Covid-19 measures and on sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukraine. Herbert Kickl’s rhetoric resembles Donald Trump’s: in their narrative, governments in the West are fuelling the war and prolonging sorrow by supporting Ukraine, which is not a victim.

More broadly, the FPÖ portrays Austrian traditional culture as idealised but also in need of protection (“Fortress Austria”). The party manifesto highlights the values of freedom, democracy, sovereignty, security, homogeneity, neutrality, and individuality, and presents itself as the representative of the people against the elites. Austrian women must be protected from foreign (especially Muslim) men entering Austria. The party subscribes to traditional gender roles and gender binary. In the FPÖ’s words, “the opposite of diversity” is “unity.”

Against this background, it is worth highlighting the gender dimension of FPÖ’s electoral success. The FPÖ traditionally received more support from men than from women. Evidence from Austria used to align with the general trend of a gender gap in far-right party support. In the parliamentary elections in 2019, for example, 11 percent of all women and 21 percent of all men voted for the FPÖ (for more information, see: National Election Austria 2019 Survey). The FPÖ candidate for the presidential elections in 2016 was supported by 38 percent of all women and 56 percent of all men (for more information, see: Presidential Elections Austria 2016 Survey).  In this year’s parliamentary election, however, the gender gap closed considerably, with 28 percent of all women and 29 percent of all men voting for the FPÖ, moving the group from being a “men’s party” to a party for men and women (for more information, see: Wahlbefragung Nationalratswahl 2024).

Implications for democracy, gender rights, migration, and European integration

Despite receiving the most votes, the FPÖ was initially not included in governmental talks. This led to an expanded populist fervour. After the negotiations among the conservatives (ÖVP), the social democrats (SPÖ), and the liberals (NEOS) broke down, the FPÖ began negotiating with ÖVP to form a coalition government. Currently, if its leader does not become chancellor, the FPÖ will nonetheless have an influential role within the parliament and the decision-making process. For instance, as the largest party within parliament, FPÖ nominate’s the speaker of the parliament (second highest position in Austrian democracy). In his capacity as the speaker of the Parliament, FPÖ’s Walter Rosenkranz has invited as his first international guest to a parliamentary session Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, and another Far Right European leader. This first invitation carries symbolic weight and raises many questions. While Hungary has historically been Austria’s ally, today the nation is known for its restrictive policies across gender rights, migration, and democratic freedoms, as well as for his close ties to many of the world’s authoritarian/illiberal leaders like Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Orbán is also famous for his fierce criticism of the EU and for his heated debates with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Seen in this light, Walter Rosenkranz’s choice is indicative of the direction in which the FPÖ wants to take the Austrian polity, politics, and policies in the next couple of years.

Laura Kulterer is a student of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at the University of Salzburg, Austria and is currently an Erasmus student at the University of Granada, Spain.

Zoe Lefkofridi is Professor of Politics and Gender, Diversity and Equality at the Department of Political Science at the University of Salzburg, Austria. Lefkofridi received the 2023 Käthe Leichter Prize by the Austrian Chamber of Labor and the 2023 Greek International Women Award (GIWA) in Law and Political Sciences. She coordinates the international Research Consortium Push*Back*Lash (https://pushbacklash.eu) and leads Working Package 4 (Representation) in the project ActEU (https://acteu.org/).

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.