Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Austrian German: [beˈaːtɛ maɪnl̩ ˈraɪzɪŋɐ]; born 25 April 1978) is an Austrian politician serving as leader of NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum since June 2018. She is also the leader of the party's parliamentary group in the National Council since 2018.[1] Previously, she was a member of the National Council and from 2015 to 2018, and a member of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna, where she also led the NEOS group. She returned to the National Council after the resignation of Matthias Strolz in 2018.
Beate Meinl-Reisinger | |
|---|---|
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| Chairwoman of NEOS – The New Austria | |
| Assumed office 23 June 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Matthias Strolz |
| Leader of NEOS – The New Austria in the National Council | |
| Assumed office 18 October 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Matthias Strolz |
| Deputy Chairwoman of NEOS – The New Austria | |
| In office 25 January 2014 – 18 October 2018 Serving with Angelika Mlinar | |
| Leader | Matthias Strolz |
| Succeeded by | Nikolaus Scherak Sepp Schellhorn |
| Member of the National Council | |
| Assumed office 18 October 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Matthias Strolz |
| Constituency | Federal list |
| In office 29 September 2013 – 9 October 2015 | |
| Succeeded by | Claudia Gamon |
| Constituency | Federal list |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Beate Reisinger 25 April 1978 Vienna, Austria |
| Political party | NEOS – The New Austria |
| Other political affiliations | Austrian People's Party (until 2012) |
| Children | 3 |
Education and personal life
editMeinl-Reisinger was born Beate Reisinger on 25 April 1978. She attended the Wasagasse grammar school, then studied law at the University of Vienna and completed her master's degree in European Studies at the Danube University Krems. She then completed a trainee program for EU academics at the Austrian Economic Chamber. In this context, she worked for the European Commission and as an assistant to Othmar Karas in the European Parliament.
After the trainee program, she worked as a deputy managing director at "Women in the Economy", a department of the Economic Chamber. She held further positions at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor and the Federal Ministry of Economics, Family and Youth. Subsequently, she worked as a consultant for women's, family, and integration policy in the cabinet of State Secretary Christine Marek. In 2009, she became a political advisor for the Vienna branch of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).[2]
Meinl-Reisinger is married and has three children.
Political career
editFrom 2010 to 2012, Meinl-Reisinger was a member of the Vienna branch of the ÖVP women's association.[3]
After the birth of her second daughter in 2012, Meinl-Reisinger became involved with the new party NEOS. She was elected to third place on the party's federal list in the 2013 federal election, and was elected to the National Council.[4] After NEOS merged with the Liberal Forum in 2014, she was elected as one of two federal deputy leaders of the party; she also became chairwoman of its Vienna branch.[5] In the National Council, Meinl-Resinger served as chair of the culture committee and was a member of the judiciary committee, the consumer protection committee, and the family committee.
In February 2015, Meinl-Reisinger was selected as the top candidate for the 2015 Viennese state election.[6] On 24 September, she announced her resignation from the National Council to commit time to Viennese politics; she did so on 9 October, two days before the election.[7] She led the party to significant success, winning 6.16% and five seats.[8] She subsequently became chairwoman of the NEOS parliamentary group in the Viennese parliament.
In the 2017 federal election, Meinl-Reisinger was again third on the federal list.[9] She did not take her seat after the election, choosing instead to remain active in Viennese politics.
Federal NEOS leader Matthias Strolz announced his resignation on 7 May 2018. At a party congress on 23 June 2018, Beate Meinl-Reisinger was elected at his successor with 94.8% of the delegate votes.[10] Upon his resignation from the National Council on 18 October, she took his seat, and replaced him as NEOS group leader. Ahead of this, she resigned from her positions in Vienna, and she was replaced as chairperson and group leader by Christoph Wiederkehr.[11]
At a party conference in Vienna on 6 July 2019, Meinl-Reisinger was elected as the top candidate for the 2019 federal election with 96.1% of votes.[12] NEOS won 8.10% of votes in the election, and won 15 seats, an increase of five from its 2017 result.
References
edit- ^ "Mag. Beate Meinl-Reisinger, MES".
- ^ "Founding a party: Why the ÖVP is right to fear the Neos". Profil.at. 11 February 2013.
- ^ ÖVP internal database, accessed on August 9, 2015 (entry: 18 March 2010, member until: 13 September 2012)
- ^ "NEOS top candidate Beate Meinl-Reisinger in an interview about the NR election". Vienna.at. 30 August 2013.
- ^ "United NEOS or the end of the Liberal Forum". Die Presse. 25 January 2014.
- ^ "Vienna election: Meinl-Reisinger confirmed as top Neos candidate". Der Standard. 28 February 2015.
- ^ "National Council: Meinl-Reisinger resigns from mandate". Die Presse. 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Neos relieved: "We did it"". Kurier. 11 October 2015.
- ^ "NEOS: Matthias Strolz elected top candidate for 2017 National Council election". Ots.at.
- ^ "Meinl-Reisinger elected as new Neos chief with 94.7 percent". Der Standard. 23 June 2018.
- ^ "Return of the new NEOS Vienna club boss". ORF. 5 July 2018.
- ^ "Meinl-Reisinger named NEOS top candidate". Sn.at. 6 July 2019.
External links
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