Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has resigned following the poor performance of his Social Democratic Party in presidential elections and after losing the support of Social Democratic party colleagues, the BBC reports.
Mr Faymann came to power in 2008 but has faced criticism within his party since the far right won the first round of presidential elections last month.
He told a hastily convened press conference that Austria needed a chancellor who had his party "fully behind him".
He called for the government to make a new start.
"I'm stepping down from my role as chancellor and SPO leader," he said, acknowledging he had lost support within the party.
In his statement he singled out the challenges of bringing down unemployment, as well as social cohesion and the refugee crisis.
Earlier this year, Mr Faymann yielded to pressure from a conservative coalition partner to cap the number of people allowed to claim asylum in Austria after the arrival in 2015 of more than 90,000 asylum seekers.
The success of far-right Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer in the first round of the presidential election a fortnight ago put further pressure on Mr Faymann's government.