1953 Austrian legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 22 February 1953. They were the elections in which the Socialist Party received the most votes since 1920. However, the Austrian People's Party won the most seats. The grand coalition between the two parties was continued with Julius Raab replacing Leopold Figl as Chancellor of Austria, who had had to resign after facing criticism from his own party, and Adolf Schärf of the Socialist Party remaining Vice Chancellor.

1953 Austrian legislative election

22 February 1953
All 165 seats in the National Council of Austria 83 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Leopold Figl Adolf Schärf Party ÖVP SPÖ Last election 44.03%, 77 seats 38.71%, 67 seats Seats won 74 73 Seat change 3 6 Popular vote 1,781,777 1,818,517 Percentage 41.26% 42.11% Swing 2.77 pp 3.40 pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Herbert Kraus Johann Koplenig Party VdU KPÖ Leader since 25 March 1949 Last election 11.67%, 16 seats 5.08%, 5 seats Seats won 14 4 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 472,866 228,159 Percentage 10.95% 5.28% Swing 0.72 pp 0.20 pp
Chancellor before election Leopold Figl ÖVP Elected Chancellor Julius Raab ÖVP

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Socialist Party of Austria	1,818,517	42.11	73	+6
	Austrian People's Party	1,781,777	41.26	74	–3
	Electoral Party of Independents	472,866	10.95	14	–2
	Austrian People's Opposition	228,159	5.28	4	–1
	Bipartisan Agreement of the Centre	5,809	0.13	0	New
	Christian Democratic Party	3,668	0.08	0	New
	Christian Social Party and Non-Party Personalities	3,029	0.07	0	New
	Free Democrats	2,573	0.06	0	New
	Association of Austrian Monarchists	1,210	0.03	0	New
	Austrian National Republicans and Independents	1,054	0.02	0	New
	Austrian Patriotic Party	26	0.00	0	0
Total		4,318,688	100.00	165	0
Valid votes		4,318,688	98.25
Invalid/blank votes		76,831	1.75
Total votes		4,395,519	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		4,586,870	95.83
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Results by state

State	SPÖ	ÖVP	WdU	VO	Others
Burgenland	44.7	48.3	3.7	3.2	0.5
Carinthia	48.1	28.8	16.6	4.1	2.3
Lower Austria	39.0	50.2	4.8	5.8	0.1
Upper Austria	38.4	46.2	12.2	3.0	0.2
Salzburg	35.2	42.3	18.9	2.8	0.8
Styria	41.1	40.7	13.6	4.4	0.2
Tyrol	29.2	55.1	13.1	2.4	0.2
Vorarlberg	22.7	55.5	18.8	2.9	0.1
Vienna	50.0	31.1	10.5	8.1	0.5
Austria	42.1	41.3	11.0	5.3	0.4
Source: Institute for Social Research and Consulting (SORA)