Haider quits politics after crushing election defeat

Jörg Haider, one of the fastest-rising stars of Europe's far right, crashed to earth yesterday when he announced his retirement from politics.

His decision followed a crushing defeat for his Freedom Party in Austria's general elections on Sunday.

The party's support plummeted from 27 per cent in elections three years ago to 10 per cent with more than a million voters deserting the party, turning instead to its coalition partner, the conservative People's Party. Mr Haider was nowhere to be seen on election night but turned up punctually, looking tanned and stylish as ever, for an election post-mortem in Vienna yesterday.

The 52-year-old charged out of the room two hours later to telephone the media in the southern state of Carinthia and tell them he was offering his resignation as governor. "I was deeply hurt by the election results and see that there is a great deal of distrust towards me. I've absolutely had my fill of politics."

Mr Haider, whose extremist views including occasional praise of the Nazis provoked international outrage when his party entered government in 2000, said he was "deeply affected" by the defeat, which he said he saw as a "vote of no-confidence".

Last night, party leaders were rallying behind him, saying they would not accept his resignation. The Freedom Party still stands a strong chance of gaining a share in the next ruling coalition,led by the People's Party.

Mr Haider continued to pull the strings of his party from Carinthia after stepping down as leader in May 2000. This was prompted byan international protest at its anti-immigration and EU-sceptical views.

He has repeatedly played hard to get, announcing he would quit national politics, only to return shortly afterwards. The instant cries yesterday for Mr Haider not to step down led some analysts to conclude that the move was just another stunt. But after racing back down south for a meeting of the regional branch, Mr Haider answered "Yes, that's right" when asked if he would stick to his decision. As the doors closed, Austria was once again left in the dark over whether he really meant it this time.