The Beer Party (Austria)

The Beer Party (then still operating as BPÖ) did not take part in elections during the first four years following its establishment. In 2019, it capitalized on the satirical potential of the Ibiza Affair and advertised itself with giveaways of free beer in order to gain the declarations of support (Unterstützungserklärungen) necessary for participation in the election. As one motivation for its candidacy, the party declared that "drunk stories"—a play on a statement by far-right populist politician Heins-Christian Strache downplaying the Ibiza Affair[11]—were best left to the professionals.[12] A nationwide campaign was obviously infeasible, so BIER focused on Vienna and was ultimately able to amass enough support there to appear on the ballot.[13] According to a July 2019 online poll of the tabloid newspaper Österreich, 23% of respondents could imagine voting for the Beer Party under certain circumstances.[14] In the election the party ultimately won 4,946 votes corresponding to 0.6% in Vienna and 0.1% Austria-wide.[3]

Immediately after the announcement of the results of the 2019 National Council election, the Beer Party announced its intention to launch a campaign for the 2020 Viennese State Election.[15] However, collecting the necessary 1800 signed declarations of support posed a logistical problem due to the shutdown-measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. The Beer Party pointed out that this was especially problematic for small parties that depend on direct contact with voters and criticized the situation as unfair.[16] Still, even without external sponsors the Beer Party was able to gather enough support to enter the election. For the concurrently occurring 2020 district representative election, the party ran candidates for district representative in every Viennese district except the 1st.[17]

The campaign kicked off with a "beer rally" lead by Pogo and his functionaries from throughout all 23 districts. One of the party's election promises was to replace the Hochstrahlbrunnen, a fountain in Schwarzenbergplatz, with a beer fountain.[18] Among the more serious goals of the Beer Party were support through the corona crisis for Vienna's culture scene, which was badly hit by pandemic lockdown measures.[19] The Beer Party was, by October 2020 notably able to capture more social media engagement than any other party—including the major parties—with a budget of only 200 Euros[20] despite the competition having invested tens of thousands in advertisement.[21] Also notable was the support of Niko Alm, a former member of the National Council who campaigned for the Beer Party.[19]

With 1.8% of the vote, the Beer Party did not win representation in the Landtag. However, the party did win mandates in 11 of Vienna's districts.[22] Since the party only put forward a total of six candidates for the election, representative for the remaining mandates had to be nominated afterwards.[5] The party leader, Pogo, will serve as a representative for Simmering, the 11th district.[23]

Pogo indicated that a future goal for the party will be the election for federal president anticipated to be held in 2022.[24]

The Beer Party summarizes its broader platform in 10 points ranging from obviously satirical to serious:[26]

• A beer fountain for Vienna replacing the Hochstrahlbrunnen
• Allow outdoor dining in winter
• Mandatory aptitude test for politicians
• Cover fixed pandemic-related costs to save the culture scene
• Abolish mandatory closing times for restaurants and bars
• Abolish tax on drinks in bars/restaurants and compensate with a new 50% tax on Radlers and "other atrocities"
• Universal monthly provision of a barrel of beer to all Austrian households (50L per adult and 20L per child)
• Banning Radlers in Vienna and instituting a Radler buyback program exchanging Radlers for beer
• Increasing voter turnout by allowing voters to "return the seriousness to Austrian politics that it deserves"
• A person is a person, live and let live (except for Radler-drinkers)