Austria’s recent presidential election has been invalidated after its constitutional court upheld a challenge by the far-right Freedom Party.

Alexander van der Bellen, the Green Party candidate, beat Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party by just 31,000 votes in May’s election, out of a total of around 4,500,000 votes cast.

However, Mr Hofer challenged the result based on irregularities in the counting of postal votes.

An official investigation discovered that several authorities had begun counting postal votes prior to the election rather than after the polls had closed.

The court’s ruling came as a further blow to the EU following the UK’s Brexit vote.

Mr Hofer’s party has demanded significant changes to current EU policies, especially on immigration. They have openly talked about the possibility of an ‘Auxit’ referendum if their demands are not met.

The post of president is primarily ceremonial. However, it does grant the power to dismiss the government and call elections – and the Freedom Party currently leads in Austrian polls.

If Mr Hofer were to win a second election, he would become the first far-right head of state to lead a European Union country.

The election re-run could take place in September or October.