Puch near Hallein

Helmut Klose, still head of the village, cancels office hours

Helmut Klose cancels appointments with residents.

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Loss of office after 25 years. After his surprising election defeat, Puch's mayor Helmut Klose continues to go into hiding.

Helmut Klose (ÖVP), who is still mayor of Puch, did not want to talk to the media after his election defeat on Sunday - and now he no longer wants to talk to the people of the Tennengau village either. Until now, the mayor had regularly held consultation hours. The residents of the village were able to voice their concerns and wishes there. This is now a thing of the past. "Mayor Helmut Klose's office hours have been canceled until further notice," according to the municipality's official website.

Klose has been mayor of Puch for 25 years, making him the longest-serving mayor in the entire Tennengau region. In the municipal elections on March 10, his People's Party surprisingly lost its absolute majority. The next low blow came on Sunday in the run-off election. Klose was defeated by his SPÖ opponent Barbara Schweitl by a surprisingly large margin. Only 46 percent of all votes went to the long-term local leader, 54 to his challenger.

Klose withdraws
"We have [...] realized that we were not able to deal with all issues to the fullest satisfaction", the Puch ÖVP announced in a circular after the first round of voting. They are planning "appropriate measures", it continued. Helmut Klose will no longer be involved. He declared his withdrawal from politics to party friends on the run-off election Sunday.