International

Sebastian Kurz is set to return to the Austrian chancellorship with a significantly strengthened mandate at the expense of his former partners, the far-right Freedom party. Austrian voters gave him a resounding victory on Sunday, with the far-right and Social Democrats emerging as the biggest losers in the snap election called after the collapse of Mr Kurz’s first government in May. Mr Kurz’s moderate conservative Austrian People’s party (ÖVP) increased its share of the vote to 38.3 per cent, compared with 31.5 in 2017, giving it its largest lead over any other party in the second republic since its foundation in 1945. Mr Kurz’s erstwhile partners in government, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which had been expecting a comfortable result, meanwhile saw popular support crumble. The party took just 16 per cent of ballots cast, compared with 26 per cent in 2017, when a truculent campaign against immigration at the height of the European refugee crisis propelled it into power. The party’s unexpectedly poor result is now likely to precipitate a crisis within its ranks as internal factions seek to apportion blame.

The Social Democrats, while holding on to second place, also performed poorly. They saw their share of the vote slip 5 percentage points to just 21.5 per cent, the party’s worst result. The Green party was Sunday’s other big winner, scoring 12.3 per cent, compared with just 3.8 per cent two years ago. Voters’ support for Mr Kurz has been far greater than expected and represents a significant victory for the 33-year-old’s carefully calibrated and pragmatic style of politics. Mr Kurz has echoed much of the hardline messaging of the Freedom party on immigration, but has cast himself simultaneously as a pragmatic and moderate statesman. His convincing victory will put to rest many of the questions raised in the course of a long four months of campaigning this summer over his suitability for office after the sudden collapse of his first foray into power.