Deputy Admits Gay Affair With Austrian Rightist

The successor of the Austrian far-right leader Jörg Haider lost his position yesterday after admitting that he had a sexual relationship with the firebrand politician, who died in a car crash last week. "He was the man of my life. Our relationship went far beyond friendship," said the 27-year-old Stefan Petzner, who was president of the Alliance for the Future of Austria for just one week.

According to the Times of London, Petzner carried on an affair with Haider, who was more than twice his age, with the approval of Haider's wife. Austrian papers have reported that the pair fought on the night of Haider's death, when he careered off the road after drinking to excess at a gay nightclub. The Alliance for the Future of Austria won 11% of the vote in the country's recent elections, leading to fears of a resurgent far right.
(More Joerg Haider stories.)