The Social Democratic Party (SPO) of Austria has chosen Christian Kern, the chief of the national railways, as the new chancellor of the country.

A party leadership meeting on May 17 will formally propose Kern as chancellor. He needs to be sworn in by President Heinz Fischer afterward.

“Dr Kern will be proposed unanimously next Tuesday for the posts of party leader and chancellor,” Michael Haeupl, the acting leader of the SPO, told a news conference after a meeting of senior party figures in Vienna.

Fischer's office confirmed the SPO announcement.

Werner Faymann stepped down as chancellor on May 9, bowing to a party revolt that erupted after the SPO candidate in Austria's presidential election crashed out in the first round, far behind the winner from the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO). A second round will be held on May 22.

Kern, widely admired for his skills as a manager who oversaw the mass transit of asylum seekers to Germany at the height of the refugee crisis last autumn, has been keeping a low public profile and has given few clues as to his policy preferences.

The SPO and its coalition partner, the People's Party (OVP), have suffered a series of electoral losses in recent years. They must either work together in government until 2018, or face an early parliamentary election that the FPO would most likely win.

Reinhold Mitterlehner, the leader of the OVP who is also acting chancellor, said about Kern and his future impact, “He is a very well-qualified manager, which should certainly have a positive influence on politics and the government.”

Kern faces a difficult task in keeping the coalition alive while rallying a party divided over how to reverse its electoral fortunes without abandoning its liberal principles.