Christian Kern
![Kern in 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Christian_Kern_2016_%28portrait%29.jpg)
A business journalist by profession, the member of Austria's Social Democratic Party served as spokesman of the SPÖ's parliamentary group leader in the mid-1990s, before he became a senior manager in Austria's leading electricity company Verbund AG. In 2010, Kern was appointed CEO of the state-owned Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), chairing the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) from 2014 onwards. Following the resignation of Werner Faymann amidst the presidential election, the governing Social Democrats nominated Kern for the office of chancellor.
Kern was sworn in as Chancellor of Austria on 17 May 2016, vowing to continue the "Grand coalition" with the People's Party (ÖVP), but promising a "New Deal" that would bring about more jobs by cutting red tape while ensuring ordinary workers receive a share of economic prosperity. Kern criticized the Austrian political elite as being power-obsessed and devoid of a meaningful political agenda about the country's future. Provided by Wikipedia