Austria's lower house of parliament on Thursday elected its first ever far-right speaker after his Freedom Party won last month's parliamentary election and many conservatives backed him over the objections of the left and the Jewish community.

A lawmaker from the far-right Freedom Party was elected Thursday as the new speaker of Austria's parliament, weeks after the party won a national election for the first time. Walter Rosenkranz becomes the first member of the Freedom Party to be elected as speaker,

Austrian parliamentarians elected Walter Rosenkranz of the FPÖ to the second-highest position in government. The appointment comes after the Freedom Party won an unprecedented election victory in September.

Austrian lawmakers on Thursday elected for the first time a far-right politician as parliament president despite the Jewish community criticising the nominee for having paid "hommage to Nazi criminals".