1966 Austrian legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 6 March 1966.[1] The result was a victory for the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), which won 85 of the 165 seats. Voter turnout was 93.8%.[2]

1966 Austrian legislative election

6 March 1966
165 seats in the National Council of Austria 83 seats needed for a majority
Leader Josef Klaus Bruno Pittermann Friedrich Peter Party ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Leader since 1963 1957 1958 Last election 81 seats, 45.43% 76 seats, 44.00% 8 seats, 7.04% Seats won 85 74 6 Seat change 4 2 2 Popular vote 2,191,109 1,928,985 242,570 Percentage 48.35% 42.56% 5.35% Swing 2.92% 1.44% 1.69%
Chancellor before election Josef Klaus ÖVP Elected Chancellor Josef Klaus ÖVP

During the campaign, ÖVP Chancellor Josef Klaus had called for an end to the grand coalition with the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ) that had governed since 1945. The election results seemingly left Klaus free to break off the coalition; with an outright majority of three seats, the ÖVP could govern alone. However, Klaus reversed himself and proposed a new coalition agreement. The SPÖ leadership supported a renewed coalition, but talks failed when the SPÖ rank and file balked at the proposed coalition terms.[3] Klaus then formed an exclusively ÖVP cabinet, the first one-party government of the Second Republic.[4] It was also the first purely centre-right government in Austria since before World War II.

As of the 2019 elections, this is the only time in the ÖVP's history where it has governed in a majority. The ÖVP had won a majority of seats once before, during the first postwar election in 1945, but opted to lead a grand coalition rather than govern alone.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Austrian People's Party	2,191,109	48.3	85	+4
Socialist Party of Austria	1,928,985	42.6	74	–2
Freedom Party of Austria	242,570	5.4	6	–2
Democratic Progressive Party	148,528	3.3	0	New
Communists and Left Socialists	18,636	0.4	0	0
Liberal Party of Austria	1,571	0.0	0	New
Marxist–Leninist Party of Austria	486	0.0	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	52,085	–	–	–
Total	4,583,970	100	165	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote ÖVP   48.35% SPÖ   42.56% FPÖ   5.35% DFP   3.28% KLS   0.41% Other   0.05%

Parliamentary seats ÖVP   51.52% SPÖ   44.85% FPÖ   3.64%

References

1. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 196. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p215
3. Austria: a country study. Government Printing Office for the Library of Congress, 1994.
4. Austria at Encyclopædia Britannica