Günther Ruprecht: New Vice President of the Federal Council from July 2025!

Günther Ruprecht: New Vice President of the Federal Council from July 2025!

On July 1, 2025, Günther Ruprecht from Styria will become the new Vice President of the Austrian Federal Council. This reports ots.at. The change takes place as part of the regular rotation of the presidency, as Styria will take over the presidency in the second half of 2025. Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler (ÖVP) is stepping down as chairman for the first half of 2025. Ruprecht will therefore succeed him.

Günther Ruprecht was elected to the Federal Council on October 17, 2023 and has held various political offices since then. He was born in Graz in 1977 and is a trained sporting goods specialist. His professional career took him from an apprenticeship as a retail salesman in the sporting goods sector to several management positions in the ÖVP and the Austrian Workers' Association (ÖAAB).

Political career and functions

Ruprecht's political career shows continuous involvement in the ÖVP. From 2004 to September 2015 he was the ÖVP district manager in southeast Styria and then took over the position of regional manager of the Styrian ÖAAB until 2023. In June 2023 he was elected regional chairman of the Styrian ÖAAB, successor to Christopher Drexler. In addition, he has been a member of the state party executive committee of the ÖVP Styria since 2022 and was managing director of the “Steiermark Model” of the Styrian People's Party until January 2025.

His political activity also extends to the Chamber of Labor, where he serves as a chamber councilor, and he was a member of the state board of the Christian Trade Union Group (FCG) and the state board of the Austrian Trade Union Confederation (ÖGB) in Styria. In the state elections in Styria in 2019, he successfully ran for position 13 on the ÖVP state list, which further strengthened his position in the party.

The Federal Council and its role

The Federal Council is the second chamber of the Austrian Parliament, which acts as the representation of the states at the federal level. It currently has 60 members who are elected by the respective state parliaments. The members of the Federal Council are not bound by instructions, which guarantees them a free mandate. The political composition of the Federal Council reflects the mood in the state parliaments, with 22 representatives from the ÖVP, 18 from the SPÖ, 16 from the FPÖ, 3 from the Greens and 1 from the NEOS, as shown de.wikipedia.org emerges.

Günther Ruprecht is married and has two children. Harald Himmer, chairman of the ÖVP Federal Council faction, also expressed himself positively about the upcoming changes and wishes Ruprecht every success in his new position, while thanking Eder-Gitschthaler for the work she has done. Ruprecht's appointment is a sign of continuity within the political landscape of Styria and the Federal Council, in a system based on taking regional interests and opinions into account.