1966 Austrian legislative election


Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 6 March 1966.
The result was a victory for the Austrian People's Party, which won 85 of the 165 seats. Voter turnout was 93.8%. With an outright majority of three seats, the ÖVP could govern alone. Nonetheless, ÖVP leader and Chancellor Josef Klaus initially sought to continue the grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Austria that had governed since 1945. When talks for a renewed coalition failed, Klaus formed an exclusively ÖVP cabinet, the first one-party government of the Second Republic. It was also the first purely centre-right government in Austria since before World War II.
As of the 2017 elections, this is the only time in the ÖVP's history where it has governed in a majority. The ÖVP had won a majority of seats once before, during the first postwar election in 1945, but opted to lead a grand coalition rather than govern alone.

Results