Ludwig remains Vienna Mayor: Coalition talks ready to go!

Ludwig remains Vienna Mayor: Coalition talks ready to go!

Wien, Österreich - On April 28, 2025, Michael Ludwig, the mayor of Vienna, confirmed that he will continue to hold the office of mayor. In the last state and municipal council election, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) achieved 39.5 percent of the vote, which corresponds to a loss of more than two percentage points compared to 2020. Despite this decline, Ludwig remains optimistic and plans to start the explorations for possible coalitions this week. However, it categorically excludes a coalition with the Freedom of Austria (FPÖ) after the conversations between FPÖ and ÖVP have failed, which is considered historical. This reports Krone .

The FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl was held responsible for the failure of the coalition negotiations by many parties. Ludwig critically commented on Kickl's role and urges the need to find solutions. In the political landscape, a “Zuckerl” coalition between the SPÖ, Greens and Neos is considered possible after the FPÖ received almost three times as many votes compared to 2020 and reached 20.4 percent. However, this choice was characterized by scandals such as the Ibiza affair for the FPÖ, which had previously fallen to seven percent, reports .

The SPÖ has called a presidium in the town hall to set a timetable for the explorations. Ludwig plans to have talks with the Neos, Greens and the ÖVP, whereby the ÖVP is under pressure under its new chairman Karl Mahrer. Whether Mahrer retains his party's support remains unclear because the ÖVP fell to almost ten percent in the elections after reaching over twenty percent. The Greens, who received 14.6 percent of the votes, have already started their talks on Monday, while the FPÖ is expected to only be on Tuesday, quotes Süddeutsche .

The need for a stable majority in the National Council emphasizes by Ludwig, which is optimistic that upcoming sticking points can be solved in the coalition negotiations. The remaining election cards and the voices of non-Austrian EU citizens will be counted on Monday, while the results of the preferred votes will also be published. This political situation once again shows the challenges and opportunities that Vienna, as the largest city in Austria, shape with over two million inhabitants.