Vienna Municipal Council constitutes itself: New faces in the city government!

Vienna Municipal Council constitutes itself: New faces in the city government!

Vienna's political stage regrouped on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. The Vienna municipal council and state parliament constituted themselves in the town hall after 44 days of waiting. The day was dedicated to the inauguration of around 100 new mandates and the election of city councilors, mayors and deputy mayors. This is an important moment for many because it sets the direction for the coming years.

What awaited those present? Mayor Michael Ludwig from the SPÖ, who continues to act as city boss, opened the meeting at 9 a.m. with his government statement and laid the foundation for the continuation of the coalition with the Neos. This cooperation is referred to as red-pink and remains almost unchanged in the government structure. New to the government is Barbara Novak, who replaces Peter Hanke, who has moved to the federal government, as the new finance and economic city councilor. The competent city councilor also takes responsibility for international matters and digital issues.

The new city government in detail

The newly formed city government is composed as follows:

• Barbara Novak (Finanzen, Wirtschaft, Arbeit, Internationales, Digitales)
• Jürgen Czernohorszky (Klima, Umwelt, Bäder)
• Peter Hacker (Gesundheit, Soziales, Sport)
• Ulli Sima (Stadtplanung, Mobilität, Innovation, Stadtwerke)
• Veronica Kaup-Hasler (Kunst, Kultur, Wissenschaft, VHS)
• Kathrin Gaál (Wohnen, Stadtbau, Stadterneuerung, Frauen)
• Bettina Emmerling (Bildung, Jugend, Integration, Transparenz, Märkte)

The distribution of mandates has brought about some changes. The seats in the local council are now distributed as follows: SPÖ with 43 seats (minus 3), FPÖ with 22 seats (plus 14), Greens with 15 seats (minus 1), Neos with 10 seats (plus 2) and ÖVP also with 10 seats (minus 12) Die Press. This distribution of seats clearly shows that the FPÖ gained votes, while the ÖVP had to fight hard as it seemed to have lost voters.

A look back at the constitution

The history of the constitution of the Vienna municipal council has many curiosities to offer. While today the wait for the first session is 44 days, there have been shorter constitution times in the past, such as 33 days in November 1973 or May 1983. In contrast, the record for the longest wait was 47 days in 1959 and 1964.

On the agenda at the first meeting was not only the swearing in, but also the election of the local council chairman. Thomas Reindl will act in this role and will receive support from his deputies Wolfgang Seidl (FPÖ) and Marina Hanke (SPÖ). The state parliament will then hold its constituent session, with Christian Meidlinger, also from the SPÖ, taking the lead as the new state parliament president. He succeeds Ernst Woller. Anton “Toni” Mahdalik (FPÖ) and Gerhard Schmid (SPÖ) take on further important positions as second and third chairman respectively.

What is particularly noteworthy is that the first session took place without Question Time or Current Affairs Hour, which may have been a bit of a disappointment for those who were hoping for an active political exchange. In addition, the visit to Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen was postponed to a later date, which made the first meeting even easier.

The developments in the Vienna municipal council and state parliament are of great importance for the coming years. The course has been set and political events will continue to need to be closely monitored. With a stable coalition and a breath of fresh air from new elected representatives, Vienna promises an exciting political time.