1983 Austrian legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 24 April 1983.[1] The result was a victory for the Socialist Party, which won 90 of the 183 seats. However, the Socialists lost the outright majority they had held since 1971, prompting Bruno Kreisky to stand down as SPÖ leader and Chancellor in favour of Fred Sinowatz. The SPÖ stayed in office by entering into a coalition government with the Freedom Party of Austria, which at this point was a liberal party. Voter turnout was 92.6%.[2][3]

1983 Austrian legislative election

24 April 1983
183 seats in the National Council of Austria 92 seats needed for a majority
Leader Bruno Kreisky Alois Mock Norbert Steger Party SPÖ ÖVP FPÖ Leader since 1967 1979 1980 Last election 95 seats, 51.03% 77 seats, 41.90% 11 seats, 6.06% Seats won 90 81 12 Seat change 5 4 1 Popular vote 2,312,529 2,097,808 241,789 Percentage 47.65% 43.22% 4.98% Swing 3.38% 1.32% 1.08%
Chancellor before election Bruno Kreisky SPÖ Elected Chancellor Fred Sinowatz SPÖ

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Socialist Party of Austria	2,312,529	47.6	90	–5
Austrian People's Party	2,097,808	43.2	81	+4
Freedom Party of Austria	241,789	5.0	12	+1
United Greens of Austria	93,798	1.9	0	New
Alternative List Austria	65,816	1.4	0	New
Communist Party of Austria	31,912	0.7	0	0
Austria Party	5,851	0.1	0	New
Stop Immigrants Movement	3,914	0.0	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	69,037	–	–	–
Total	4,922,454	100	183	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote SPÖ   47.65% ÖVP   43.22% FPÖ   4.98% VGÖ   1.93% ALÖ   1.36% KPÖ   0.66% Other   0.20%

Parliamentary seats SPÖ   49.18% ÖVP   44.26% FPÖ   6.56%

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p196 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Fred Sinowatz: Reluctant chancellor of Austria The Independent, 7 September 2008
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p215