Austrian Conservative Set to Become World’s Youngest Leader

Austria’s conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), led by 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, is set to win the country’s general election, projections suggest.

The victory would make Mr Kurz the world’s youngest leader.

The People’s Party was set to win 30.2%, followed by the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) with 26.8% and the Social Democrats with 26.3%.

Short of a majority, Mr Kurz’s party could seek an alliance with the FPÖ, which campaigned against immigration.

Immigration has been a dominant issue in the runup to the vote, and the FPÖ is thought to have its best chance in years of returning to government.

The party narrowly missed out on the presidency in December when Norbert Hofer was defeated by Alexander Van der Bellen, head of the Greens, who won with about 53% of the votes.

The election comes amid anxiety in Europe over the huge influx of undocumented migrants and refugees in 2015, which fuelled an electoral breakthrough by the far right in neighbouring Germany last month. Party reinvented If the projections are correct, a political shake-up could be on the cards in Austria, the BBC’s Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.

After more than a decade in which the Social Democrats have led a coalition with the conservatives, the mood in Austria seems to be moving to the right, our correspondent says.

Mr Kurz, the outgoing foreign minister, reinvented the ÖVP after becoming leader in May, moving it rightward with promises to:

to Europe receiving benefits until they have lived in Austria for five years

Mr Kurz forced the snap election when he refused to continue in coalition with the Social Democrats, led by incumbent Chancellor Christian Kern.