Austrian conservative set to be Europe’s youngest head of state

The leader of Austria’s right-leaning People’s Party last night declared victory in a national election that puts him on track to become Europe’s youngest head of government.

Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz, 31, claimed the win after projections gave his party a comfortable lead with more than 90 per cent of the ballots counted.

It is likely he will be tasked with forming Austria’s next government.

The projections had the People’s Party getting 31.4 percent of the vote.

This marks a gain of more than seven percentage points from the 2013 election.

The result represents a triumph for Kurz, who has turned around his party’s fortunes and said he was “overwhelmed” with the result.

He has also vowed to introduce to the country a “new political culture” of togetherness under his leadership.

Final results will not be available until mid-week after absentee ballots and ballots cast by voters away from their home districts are counted.

The projections showed the centre-left Social Democrats receiving 26.6 per cent of the vote and the anti-migrant, eurosceptic Freedom Party 26.5 per cent.

The country is currently governed by a Social Democraticpeople’s Party coalition.

It was a bad day for Austria’s Greens, who suffered huge losses following in-fighting and a party split.

Early results showed them falling short of the 4 per cent support needed to make it into Austria’s parliament.

Projections from threequarters of the ballots cast in yesterday’s election had the environmentalist party securing 3.8 per cent of the vote.

This compares to four years ago, when it won 12.4 per cent.

Kurz became leader of the People’s Party in the spring amid growing strains within the governing Social Democratic-people’s Party coalition.

Since then, he has moved his party to the right, particularly on the issues of migration and Muslims.

However, he has been careful to avoid the inflammatory rhetoric of the Freedom Party and its head, Heinz-christian Strache.

That has made Kurz’s party appealing to voters who are sensitive about immigration in the wake of a 2015 influx of mostly Muslim refugees and migrants into Europe, but who are also uncomfortable about the small neo-nazi fringe which the Freedom Party attracts.

Both the People’s Party and the Freedom Party have called for Austria’s borders to be secured and for the quick deportation of asylum-seekers whose requests are denied.