The SPÖ executive board unanimously appointed Eva-Maria Holzleitner and Philip Kucher as acting party leaders this Thursday. Holzleitner, the women's chairperson, and Kucher, the club chairman, step in as outgoing leader Andreas Babler prepares to exit.
Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer will become Vice Chancellor early next year despite a cancer illness. He joined the board meeting via link while attending EU talks. Babler noted that it is customary for the Vice Chancellor to select their own team.
Recent polling shows the SPÖ at 12 to 14 percent, trailing the Greens in one survey. An election party congress is set for the first quarter of next year to formalize the leadership transition as the party seeks to improve its current fourth-place standing.