Just months before becoming chancellor of Austria on Monday, Christian Stocker was a party functionary with no ministerial experience, fast approaching retirement age and barely known outside the political bubble.

Conservative Christian Stocker has been sworn in as Austria’s chancellor at the head of a three-party coalition government, ending five months of political deadlock that followed a far-right party’s election win.

Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen swears in head of People's Party (OeVP) Christian Stocker as the new Chancellor during the swearing-in ceremony of a new government at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2025. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger