Austrian conservatives nominate Christian Stocker as interim leader after Nehammer resigns

Austria’s ruling conservative party, Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), has nominated its General Secretary Christian Stocker to succeed Chancellor Karl Nehammer after his expected resignation.

Stocker, a lawyer and member of the Austrian Parliament, has served as general secretary of the People’s Party since 2022. He is seen as an experienced and calm crisis communicator who has frequently appeared in Austrian media to defend controversial decisions.

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed for a second time.

It comes after the People’s Party and the Social Democrats (SPÖ) continued coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party’s surprise withdrawal from discussions.

Coalition talks have dragged on for months. Neos, alongside Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party and the centre-left Social Democrats have been trying to forge a three-party ruling coalition after the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) won national elections in September with 28,8% of the vote.