Vienna - Early official results of Austria's parliamentary elections on Sunday showed Austria's Social Democratic Party in the lead, but the real winners were two far-right parties which together won 29 per cent of the vote.

Social Democratic Party (SPOe) leader Werner Faymann was set to take over the chancellorship by winning 29.7 per cent, six per cent less than in the last elections in 2006.

In contrast to the governing parties' record low results, the far- right Freedom Party (FPOe) and Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOe) won 18 per cent and 11 per cent of the ballots, respectively.

Vienna - Austria's far right parties got a massive boost in Sunday's parliamentary elections because voters were frustrated with the centrist coalition parties and not because of the rightists' anti-immigration rhetoric, experts said.

Heinz Christian Strache's Freedom Party (FPOe) won 18 per cent of the votes, up seven per cent from the last elections in 2006, according to projections based on 99 per cent of counted ballots.

Joerg Haider's Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOe) more than doubled its votes to 11 per cent, from 4 per cent in 2006.

Together, the two parties are just one per cent behind the Social Democratic Party (SPOe), the winner of Sunday's early elections.

Vienna - Werner Faymann relied on his charm, populist touch and some help from the media to emerge as Austria's likely next social democratic chancellor.

The 48-year-old transport minister and new chief of the Social Democratic Party (SPOe) was not well known among the wider public before the start of the election race.

But it was relatively easy for Faymann to position himself as a more likeable candidate than outgoing Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who stepped down as head of the SPOe this summer amid dismal approval ratings.

Besides his image as an "ideal son-in-law," as Austrians put it, the Vienna-born politician also had the support of the country's biggest newspaper, the tabloid Kronen Zeitung.

Vienna - Despite heavy losses, first projections showed the Social Democratic Party was likely to keep the chancellorship as the strongest party in Austria's early parliamentary elections on Sunday.

But the real winners were the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) and the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOe), which together won around 30 per cent of the votes, according to the preliminary projection by ARGE Wahlen, based on 25 per cent of counted ballots.

Led by Transport Minister Werner Faymann, the Social Democratic Party (SPOe) stood at around 29 per cent, 6 per cent less than in the last elections in 2006.

Vienna - Austrians started casting their ballots for parliament on Sunday, with the social democratic SPOe and the conservative OeVP vying for the top spot to win the chancellorship.

As many Austrians are disappointed in these two parties that had formed a government coalition since early 2007, polls showed that the conservatives were set gain most in the early elections.

Vienna - Although many compare Austrian right-wing leader Heinz-Christian Strache with his erstwhile mentor Joerg Haider, the younger politician has overtaken his political godfather when its comes to popularity and radicalism.