The Austrian opposition Socialist Party has elected Hans Peter Doskozil as their new leader, following a tumultuous leadership race. As governor of Burgenland state, Doskozil has promised to focus on delivering solutions to everyday problems, including improving access to healthcare and boosting home ownership prospects, while also fighting corporate interests.
One of the party's key priorities will be shielding workers from the impact of inflation, which is one of the highest in the euro area due in part to government handouts made to offset higher energy costs. Doskozil will also need to address the soaring property market, with home prices having risen 77% in the past decade, according to central bank data.
Doskozil has been an outspoken critic of immigration and will look to reverse a decline in the party's support, which has left them tied in recent polls with Chancellor Karl Nehammer's People's Party, both vying for second place behind the far-right Freedom Party. However, he will first need to unite his own ranks after a messy leadership battle.
Doskozil won a straw poll among party membership in May with a narrow margin, which led to the resignation of his predecessor Pamela Rendi-Wagner. He defeated two competitors, including Andreas Babler, a firebrand socialist and small-town mayor who had emerged as an unlikely third candidate in the leadership race, with a 53% majority in the party congress.
The Socialists have been out of government since 2017 and have failed to capitalise on increasing dissatisfaction over rising prices and a series of government corruption scandals. Parliamentary elections are due in the second half of 2024, and the Freedom Party, which has criticised sanctions against Russia and Austria's strict vaccination policies during the Covid pandemic, currently leads the polls with about 28% backing. The ruling conservative People's Party has struggled to raise its support following the ousting of ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz over corruption investigations in 2021.
Doskozil has ruled out a potential coalition government with the Freedom Party or the People's Party, instead vowing to enact a better immigration policy and to lure back voters who have turned to the radical right. However, the Socialists will also have to contend with a rising Communist Party, which has outperformed in recent regional elections.