A lawmaker from the far-right Freedom Party has been elected as the new speaker of Austria’s parliament, weeks after the party won a national election for the first time.

Walter Rosenkranz, from Austria's Freedom Party, becomes the first far-right speaker of the lower house, sparking debate due to his past affiliations. His election was supported by the conservatives but faced opposition from left-wing parties and the Jewish community over concerns about his political associations.

The appointment comes after the Freedom Party won an unprecedented election victory in September.Austrian parliamentarians on Thursday elected Walter Rosenkranz of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) to be their new speaker.

The Freedom Party secured the first far-right national parliamentary election victory in post-World War II Austria on Sunday, finishing ahead of the governing conservatives after tapping into anxieties about immigration,

His critics point to his membership of a far-right fraternity and his praise for a prominent Nazi, arguing such a senior office requires a more statesmanlike figure. "It is still difficult for me to realise that you have thus added me to a long line of historic figures of this country,

Austrian lawmakers on Thursday elected for the first time a far-right politician as parliament president despite the Jewish community criticising the nominee for having paid "hommage to Nazi criminals".