Sunday’s No on Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s constitutional reform, and the defeat of far-right Norbert Hofer in Austria’s rerun presidential are being read as indicators of the supposedly irresistible march of far-right populist/anti-establishment politics in the wake of Brexit and Trump. Presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, a former leading member of the Greens Party, celebrates on the podium at a party of his supporters in Austria's capital Vienna Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, after the first official results from the Austrian presidential election showed left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen with what appears to be an unbeatable lead over right-winger Norbert Hofer. Austria’s president traditionally has a largely ceremonial role, but Hofer has made clear he wants to be an interventionist head of state, threatening to dismiss a government if it raises taxes and calling for referendums on a range of issues, even though referendums are beyond the job’s remit. “I will be a pro-European president of Austria open to the world.”

With only postal ballots left to count, a projection by pollster SORA for broadcaster ORF showed Van der Bellen on 53.3 percent and Hofer on 46.7 percent with a margin of error of 0.4 percentage points. That would trigger a second-round showdown, with the two most likely candidates being François Fillon, the arch conservative recently chosen as the Republican candidate, and Marine Le Pen, the firebrand leader of the far-right Front National.
Voters in Austria go to the polls to elect a new President in a second round run-off between Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen and Freedom Party of Austria candidate Norbert Hofer. Projections show that Van der Bellen has won with Hofer conceding defeat.