Norbert Hofer

Norbert Gerwald Hofer (German:

Hofer served as Third President of the National Council from 2013 to 2017. He was his party's candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Hofer won the first round, receiving 35.1%, but was defeated by The Greens' candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, 53.8% against 46.2%, in the final runoff (an earlier runoff was invalidated).

He later served as

He stepped down as party leader in 2021 after losing a power struggle with Herbert Kickl.

Early life and education

Hofer was born in Vorau, Austria, the son of a local Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) councillor and electric power station director. He was raised in a middle-class family in Pinkafeld, Burgenland.^[1]

He finished secondary school at the HTBLA Eisenstadt with specialization in aeronautics.^[2] From 1990 until 1991, Hofer fulfilled his military service.^[2] From 1991 until 1994 he worked as an aeronautical engineer at Lauda Air Engineering.

Political career

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2019)

Hofer worked his way up the ranks of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and became a close advisor to Heinz-Christian Strache, who took over the leadership of the Freedom Party from Jörg Haider in 2005.^[1]

From 1996 to 2007, Hofer was provincial party secretary of the FPÖ in Burgenland and, from 1997 to 2007, council member of the City of Eisenstadt. Since 2006 he has been deputy regional party chairman. From 2008 to 2012, Hofer served as vice president for Burgenland of the Österreichischer Zivilinvalidenverband.

Hofer became Third President of Austria's National Council on 29 October 2013.^[2] He succeeded Martin Graf in this function.

Austrian presidential election, 2016

On 28 January 2016, the FPÖ presented him as its candidate for the 2016 presidential elections. He won the first round of the election, held on 24 April. He placed close second in a neck-and-neck race with Alexander Van der Bellen, the former Green Party spokesman.^[3]

He ran on his promise of "putting Austria first" and received the highest number of votes in the first round with 35.1 percent, putting him in a runoff.

Hofer campaigned to dissolve Parliament in order to call new elections.^[7] During the campaign he also stated that he would refuse to approve certain laws, such as a planned free-trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, and that he may attend, along with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, EU summits.^[8]

Right-wing parties and politicians across Western Europe celebrated Hofer's first-place finish. Those parties and politicians included:

The second round election was held on 22 May 2016, with 49.7% of votes cast for Hofer while Van der Bellen, his opponent, received 50.3%,

The Court-ordered election was held on 4 December 2016, with Van der Bellen again emerging as the victor.[14] Despite predictions that election fatigue and cold temperatures would lead to a reduction in participation, voter turnout actually increased from 72.7% in May to 73.8%;^[11] expectations for a similarly close result also proved wrong, with the margin of victory for Van der Bellen increasing by approximately a factor of ten^[14] as he was supported by around 53.3% of voters. Hofer conceded soon after the first exit polls were reported, posting on Facebook: "I congratulate Alexander Van der Bellen for his success and ask all Austrians to pull together and work together" and added that he "would have liked to look after Austria" and confirmed his intention to run again in 2022.^[11] His campaign manager, Herbert Kickl, who is also the secretary of the Freedom party, attributed the defeat to "the establishment – which pitched in once again to block, to stonewall and to prevent renewal."^[11] Hofer remained as joint acting president until Van der Bellen was sworn into office,^[13] which is due to occur on 26 January 2017.^[15] Political scientist Farid Hafez argued that nevertheless, it was a huge success for the FPÖ and Norbert Hofer to reach 47% of the votes, while normally, the FPÖ reaches up to 30% at most at a national parliamentary election.^[16]

Federal minister

The FPÖ performed well in the

Hofer serves on the board of directors of Eurosolar Austria,^[19] has served on the boards of Mapjet AG (2010–2011) and International Sky Services AG (2011–2012) and was executive chairman of PAF private trust (2011–2012).^[2]

Ideology and political positions

Most mainstream press sources describe Hofer as "far-right".^[20][21] Writer Michael Toner of the centrist online news publication International Business Times referred to Hofer as a neo-fascist.^[22] However, other media outlets and political commentators have referred to Hofer as the face of the more moderate wing of the FPÖ and less hard-line compared to former party leader Heinz-Christian Strache.^[23][24][25]

Hofer himself has stated that he is not a nationalist but a patriot, and that the FPÖ is not an extreme-right movement but "a centre-right party with a high degree of social responsibility.”^[26][27] He has also cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as one of his political influences.^[25][28]

In February 2015, Hofer proposed that

Hofer is in his second marriage and has four children – two daughters, Anna-Sophie and Vivien and two sons, Yanik and Jeremie.^[31][32] He was raised as a Catholic but converted to Protestantism; his wife and children are Catholic.^[33] His main residence is in southern Burgenland.^[31]

Hofer is an honorary member of the conservative school fraternity (pennal-conservative Burschenschaft) Marko-Germania zu Pinkafeld and an honorary knight of the Order of St. George.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2003 Hofer crashed a

He is a gun enthusiast and carries a Glock handgun.^[1][34]

In addition to his native German, Hofer also speaks English.^[35]

References