March 7, 2026, 7:22 p.mMarch 7, 2026, 7:22 p.m
Austrian Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler has been re-elected as chairman of the SPÖ.Image: keystone
The Austrian Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler was re-elected as leader of the SPÖ at the party conference of his Social Democrats. He received 81.5 percent of the 600 delegate votes. That is more than was expected given internal party criticism, but less than in 2023, when it achieved 88.8 percent.
The Social Democrats have been governing since March 2025 as junior partners in a coalition with the conservative ÖVP and the liberal Neos. The three parties joined forces to prevent a government under the election winner, Herbert Kickl’s right-wing FPÖ. In the election in September 2024, the FPÖ received 28.8 percent, the ÖVP 26.3 percent, the SPÖ 21.1 percent and the Neos 9.1 percent of the vote. However, the SPÖ has continued to lose support in surveys and is now below 20 percent.
Babler scolded Kickl in his party conference speech. He named US President Donald Trump as his great role model, who wages war and causes chaos. “We don’t need Trump in Austrian,” said Babler. (sda/dpa)