Hans Peter Doskozil took the top spot in the SPÖ membership poll, the centre-left party announced on Monday.

Election administrator Michaela Grubesa said Doskozil received 33.68 percent of the votes cast by SPÖ members.

Traiskirchen Mayor Andreas Babler came second with 31.51 percent. Party chairwoman Pamela Rendi-Wagner came in at 31.35 percent. A total of 147,993 people were eligible to vote, and 107,133 votes were cast. Voter turnout was 72.79 percent.

It is still uncertain whether the party leadership will be definitively determined at this stage, as The Local has reported.

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Formally, the members’ vote serves as a recommendation, and the delegates at the party congress will make the binding decision on June 3rd. While Rendi-Wagner and Doskozil said they intended to accept any defeat in the poll as final, Babler had stated he would contest a narrow deficit and proceed to a runoff at the party congress.

Rendi-Wagner, who came last according to the poll results, had been the leading candidate as the current leader of the Social Party. The Viennese 51-year-old is a feminist and politician who has served as the party’s chairwoman since late 2018.

However, as the SPÖ has dipped in voter intention polls (with a rise of the far-right FPÖ), her leadership and ability to put together a strong campaign ahead of the 2024 elections have been questioned.

Who is Hans Peter Doskozil?

Doskozil, the Burgenland governor, was also the primary opposition candidate in the run – and the man that started the race.

He has been one of the prominent critics of Rendi-Wagner’s political tactics and called for the SPÖ to have a more rigid stance as the opposition party. This year, he officially announced that he’d be running for the top position within the SPÖ party, challenging the current leadership.

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Doskozil organised a strong campaign for the spot and said he would focus on projects already implemented in the eastern state where he is governor, such as defending a minimum wage of €2,000 and restructuring care facilities and free kindergarten.

The governor’s migration policy is based on the principle of “integration before new arrivals and rapid assistance on the ground”, according to his announced programme.

He was defence minister during 2016/17, at the height of the migrant crisis in Europe and is considered to have a tougher stance on asylum policies.