Austria’s far-right nationalist Freedom party has scored its best result in a national election for two decades and is likely to join the country’s next government, in a significant boost for Europe’s nationalist and anti-establishment movements.

Sebastian Kurz, the 31-year-old leader of the mainstream conservative People’s party, looked set to become Austrian chancellor — and the EU’s youngest leader — after topping Sunday’s poll with 31.6 per cent of votes, according to projections based on most votes counted. He said the vote was a “clear contract to change the country”.

But the projections showed 26 per cent of the vote went to the Freedom party, which has earned international notoriety for its hardline stance on immigration and airbrushing of Austria’s Nazi past. If confirmed, that would be its strongest performance since the 26.9 per cent it won in 1999 when the party was led by the charismatic J?rg Haider.