Austria’s far-right Freedom party won an unexpectedly powerful victory in the first round of the country’s presidential election, highlighting the potential forEurope’s refugee crisis to send shockwaves across the continent.

FP? candidate Norbert Hofer won more than 35 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s poll — far more than any other candidate — with most of the vote counted. He had campaigned on a nationalistic platform of strict limits on immigration, tough rules for asylum seekers and the break-up of the two-party system that has dominated Austrian politics since the second world war.

The result demonstrated the surging support for anti-immigrant parties in Europe. Although the Austrian president has largely a ceremonial role, it was the strongest national performance ever by the FP?, one of Europe’s best established far-right parties.