page_title: 2006 Austrian legislative election
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 Austrian legislative election
context_page_description: Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.
  The governing Austrian People's Party suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly overtaken by the Social Democratic Party of Austria. The Greens became the third largest party for the first time, while the Freedom Party of Austria fell to fourth for the first time. The Alliance for the Future of Austria, competing in its first national election, narrowly passed the 4% electoral threshold, despite opinion polling which indicated it would fall short.
  After the 2002 election, the ÖVP formed government with the FPÖ; in 2005, the Alliance for the Future of Austria split from the FPÖ. Most of the FPÖ's National Council deputies joined the new party, which replaced the FPÖ as the junior partner in government. As a result of the 2006 election, the ÖVP–BZÖ coalition lost its majority. After three months of negotiations, the SPÖ and ÖVP formed a grand coalition under SPÖ leader Alfred Gusenbauer, which took office on 11 January 2007.
context_section_description: Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.
  The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly overtaken by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). The Greens became the third largest party for the first time, while the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) fell to fourth for the first time. The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), competing in its first national election, narrowly passed the 4% electoral threshold, despite opinion polling which indicated it would fall short.
  After the 2002 election, the ÖVP formed government with the FPÖ; in 2005, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) split from the FPÖ. Most of the FPÖ's National Council deputies joined the new party, which replaced the FPÖ as the junior partner in government. As a result of the 2006 election, the ÖVP–BZÖ coalition lost its majority. After three months of negotiations, the SPÖ and ÖVP formed a grand coalition under SPÖ leader Alfred Gusenbauer, which took office on 11 January 2007.
caption: Results of the election, showing seats won by state and nationwide. States are shaded according to the first-place party.