Turquoise bastion:

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Polling station in Altaussee. In this municipality, the ÖVP came a close 1st in the National Council elections.(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

For the ÖVP, the rural way of life is an ideal. Analyses after the National Council elections have now shown that the People's Party can continue to rely on farmers and peasants.

The ÖVP suffered the biggest percentage loss in the party's history in the national elections and - unlike the SPÖ - still managed to close its ranks. This was made possible by a ruthless internal analysis of the election results.

Many votes moved from the ÖVP to the FPÖ
The post-election surveys showed that turquoise votes in rural regions migrated to the Freedom Party. It is also clear that these could not have been the votes of farmers.

According to data from the Institute for Electoral, Social and Methodological Research, 61 percent of farmers voted for the People's Party.

ÖVP heartland Lower Austria
"The fact that almost two thirds of a professional group vote for a party in times like these is an exceptionally high figure, both in terms of approval and mobilization," says Paul Unterhuber, opinion researcher at the Demox Institute. In the ÖVP heartland of Lower Austria, the figure is as high as 64%.

The fact that almost two thirds of a professional group vote for a party in times like these is an exceptionally high figure, both in terms of approval and mobilization.

Paul Unterhuber, Meinungsforscher des Demox-Instituts

"This result and the preferential votes are rays of hope and confirmation that hard work is indeed rewarded," explains Lower Austrian Farmers' Association Director Paul Nemecek.

In general, according to other political experts, the ÖVP only lost above average in the election in those provinces where provincial politics is below average in popularity - i.e. Tyrol and Lower Austria.