site.btaTrends in Party Support ahead of Vienna's Early Municipal, District Council Elections

Vienna will hold snap municipal and district council elections on April 27, following a decision by the city government in January to move the vote forward by several months. The move was made in response to the increasing likelihood that the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) could secure the position of federal chancellor.

So far, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), which currently governs Vienna in coalition with NEOS, holds a solid lead in the polls. According to the Austrian news agency APA’s opinion poll, while the FPO has made considerable gains, it is unlikely to take the top spot.

The battle for third place is expected to be tight, with the Austrian People's Party (OVP), the Greens, and NEOS all in contention.

Polls show SPO polling at 38.9%, reflecting a relatively stable position since mid-January. In the last elections in 2020, the Social Democratic Party of Vienna, led by Mayor Michael Ludwig, won 41.6% of the vote, though its support dropped to below 35% last summer.

The FPO currently polls at 21.7%, a marginal drop from early April. This result would mean an increase of 14.5% from the party’s 2020 performance. However, it is still far from FPO’s all-time high of 30.79%, achieved in 2015 under former leader Heinz-Christian Strache. Strache is running again with his own party, Team HC Strache, but has only garnered about 2% support so far and is unlikely to enter the municipal council, as was the case in 2020. The party was not included in APA's survey, which only features parties that have gained 4% or more in at least one opinion poll in the past 52 weeks.

The Greens remain frontrunners for third place, polling steadily at around 12% since January. The OVP follows closely at 11.2%, showing modest recent growth but still facing a drop of 9.2% from 2020.

NEOS holds fifth place with 9.3%, up 1.8% from the last elections. The Austrian Communist Party (KPO), which is also taking part in the elections, remains below the 5% threshold required for entering the Municipal Council and Landtag of Vienna, polling at just 3.7%.