Austria has bucked the anti–establishment wave and elected a former Greens leader as president.

Polls predicted the country was on track to elect its first right–wing populist president in postwar Western Europe.

But Norbert Hofer’s camp has conceded defeat to independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen for the job that is largely ceremonial. 

The Freedom Party’s Mr Hofer wanted to roll back the power of the European Union, toughen border controls, crack down on the continuing flow of refugees and migrants to Europe and improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It’s not clear what motivated voters to turn away from Mr Hofer in a year that nationalism and populism swept across the West, with Britons voting for a Brexit and Americans voting for Donald Trump.

His campaign manager, Herbert Kickl, told broadcaster ORF, “the bottom line is it didn’t quite work out.”

“In this case the establishment — which pitched in once again to block, to stonewall and to prevent renewal – has won,” he said.

A ray of hope: #Austria. An election that allows optimism for tolerance and humanity. Something all too rare nowadays

— Alan Henderson (@alanhndrsn) December 4, 2016

Mr Van der Bellen will be the first ever Greens leader in Europe, and Austria’s first to belong to neither main political party.