Is Austria’s Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) having its “Jeremy Corbyn” moment and rediscovering its socialist roots? To the surprise of many observers, today such a turn looks ever more likely.

Under the lackluster leadership of Pamela Rendi-Wagner, who has headed the SPÖ since 2018, the party suffered a heavy electoral setback in state elections in Carinthia this March 5. Shortly after the disappointing result, it was unexpectedly decided that the party would hold a membership poll on whether she should remain in office. Internally, this vote was proposed as an attempt to settle the long-simmering conflict between Rendi-Wagner and the governor of Burgenland state, Hans Peter Doskozil.

Such a contest was rather dispiriting from a left-wing point of view: Rendi-Wagner and Doskozil represent two different but similarly uninspiring currents within the SPÖ. But the rival candidacy of left-winger Andreas Babler has shaken the party establishment, offering a clear alternative.