all Austrians to pull together and work together" and added that he "would have liked to look after Austria" and confirmed his intention to run again in 2022. His campaign manager, Herbert Kickl, who is also the secretary of the Freedom party, attributed the defeat to "the establishment – which pitched in once again to block, to stonewall and to prevent renewal." Hofer remained as joint acting president until Van der Bellen was sworn into office, which is due to occur on 26 January 2017. Political scientist Farid Hafez argued that nevertheless, it was a huge success for the FPÖ and Norbert Hofer to reach 47% of the votes, while normally, the FPÖ reaches up to 30% at most at a national parliamentary election. Federal minister The FPÖ performed well in the 2017 Austrian legislative election, and it formed a government coalition with the Austrian People's Party. Hofer was chosen to lead the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology. Private career Hofer serves on the board of directors of Eurosolar Austria, has served on the boards of Mapjet AG (2010–2011) and International Sky Services AG (2011–2012) and was executive chairman of PAF private trust (2011–2012). Ideology and political positions Most mainstream press sources describe Hofer as "far-right". Writer Michael Toner of the centrist online news publication International Business Times referred to Hofer as a neo-fascist. However, other media outlets and political commentators have referred to Hofer as the face of the more moderate wing of the FPÖ and less hard-line compared to former party leader Heinz-Christian Strache. Hofer himself has stated that he is not a nationalist but a patriot, and that the FPÖ is not an extreme-right movement but "a centre-right party with a high degree of social responsibility.” He has also cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as one of his political influences. In February 2015, Hofer proposed that South Tyrol, an autonomous German-speaking province administered by Italy and formerly part of Austria-Hungary, should be absorbed into Austria. In 2016, Hofer stated that he would want Austria to hold a referendum on its membership of the European Union if the European Parliament were to assume more powers or if Turkey acceded to the bloc. Hofer has also defended the right to gun ownership. Hofer stated that the Quran was more dangerous than COVID-19 during a speech held at a 2020 campaign event. As a result, he was