Sebastian Kurz has claimed victory in Austria’s national election and is on course to become the world’s youngest leader. The 31-year-old head of the right-leaning People’s Party topped the polls on Sunday. The current foreign minister’s party was given a comfortable lead as projections were announced with more than 90 per cent of the ballots counted. The projections had the People’s Party getting 31.4 per cent of the vote, a gain of more than seven percentage points from the 2013 election.
Final results will not be available until mid-week after absentee ballots and ballots cast by voters away from their home districts are counted. Despite falling short of a majority, Kurz has not ruled out forming a minority government, which would make him the world’s youngest leader. He branded his win a “historic victory” and told cheering supporters: “Today is not the day of triumph over others, but today is our chance for real change in this country.” The projections showed the centre-left Social Democrats receiving 26.6 per cent and the vote and the anti-migrant, eurosceptic Freedom Party 26.5 per cent.
The victor served as Europe’s youngest-ever foreign minister, after he was appointed in 2013 aged just 27. Kurz became the leader of the People’s Party in May after beginning his political career in the youth wing of the party, which he chaired before moving on to serve on Vienna’s city council. He has been compared to the young leaders of France and Canada, Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau. The country is currently governed by a Social Democratic-People’s Party coalition.
Source: Evening Standard
