Venarian general election, 2013

Venaria held its 32nd general election on October 16, 2013, following the expiration of the second Rachael Blake government that was previously elected in 2008.

The Socialist Party of Venaria had lost 104 seats, dropping them to 337 out of the 655 seats in government, but still remained the largest party. The opposition Venarian Democratic Party, led by John Preston, ran on a populist platform in order to attract anti-Socialist and moderate voters. The VDP gained 95 seats and increased their vote share by 3%. The New Liberal Party rebounded after nearly getting voted out of government and tripled their share of seats. The Communist Left had a slight increase in their vote share, but increased their support in the western states.

Even though Blake and the Socialist Party were anticipated to govern as a minority government, the Socialists managed to defy what the opinion polls were suggesting and maintained their parliamentary majority, although it was greatly reduced from 227 seats to only 19, costing the Socialists their two-thirds majority as well. Having lost 104 seats, the Socialists experienced their largest decrease in the number of seats in the National House in the history of the party. Rachael Blake stepped down as Prime Minister months following the election, fulfilling her pre-election promise, and Keith Benson was appointed as party leader and Prime Minister in August 2014.