Austria's Freedom Party elects Norbert Hofer as new leader

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party has elected former minister and presidential candidate Norbert Hofer as its leader as it seeks to return to government in a Sept. 29 national election, moving beyond the scandal that brought down the previous administration.

The Austria Press Agency reported that more than 98% of delegates at a party congress in Graz Saturday backed Hofer, who ran unopposed. Hofer had done the job on an interim basis since Heinz-Christian Strache, the party’s leader of the past 14 years, resigned in May following the publication of a video in which he appeared to offer favors to a purported Russian investor.

The video prompted center-right Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to pull the plug on his coalition with the Freedom Party. Kurz was then ousted in a no-confidence vote.