Sepp Schellhorn

Josef "Sepp" Schellhorn (born 12 May 1967) is an Austrian entrepreneur, restaurateur, and former politician of NEOS – The New Austria. Between 2018 and 2021, deputy chairman of the party, as well as chairman of the party's Salzburg branch. From 2014 to 2021 he was a member of the National Council.

Personal life and professional career

Schellhorn grew up in a family of restaurateurs in Goldegg. After attending hotel management school, completing military service and international engagements in the United States, France, and Italy, he took over his parents' business, ''Der Seehof'', in Goldegg am See in 1996. As a restaurateur, Sepp Schellhorn was actively involved in representing the interests of hoteliers; he was President of the Austrian Hotel Association from 2003 to 2013. He runs the restaurants ''M32'' in the Museum der Moderne Salzburg on Mönchsberg, ''Spoon'' in the city of Salzburg, the main business ''Seehof'' in Goldegg, the ''Angertal 1180'' in Bad Hofgastein, the ''Rossalm'' in the ski area of Bad Gastein, and two other restaurants in the ski area of Sportgastein.

Sepp Schellhorn is also involved in the cultural sector, especially in the field of literature. He runs the "Sepp Schellhorn scholarship", awarded to authors and artists since 2011. Schellhorn is a great admirer of Thomas Bernhard and launched the annual, multi-day event "Disturbances - A Festival for Thomas Bernhard" in 2012. In May 2017, he became chairman of the cultural committee of the National Council after the resignation of Niko Alm. In 2017, Schellhorn published the ''Generationenkochbuch'' (german: Generational Cookbook) with his mother and son, featuring recipes from Alpine cuisine.

Schellhorn is married and has three children. His brother, business journalist Franz Schellhorn, heads the liberal think tank ''Agenda Austria''.

Political career

Schellhorn was an active member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) at a local level and in the Austrian Economic Chamber, but left the party and joined the newly-founded NEOS – The New Austria ahead of the 2013 federal election. He became spokesman for the Salzburg branch of the party, and was elected to fourth place on the federal list. He failed to be elected to the National Council, and briefly announced his resignation from the party. However, after the resignation of Angelika Mlinar in order to run for the European Parliament, Schellhorn replaced her in the National Council on 1 July 2014. He became economic spokesman for the NEOS group.

In the 2017 federal election, Schellhorn successfully ran for re-election. He became the party's speaker for finance, economy and insutry, tourism, art and culture, and energy. In the first year after the election, Schellhorn held the distinction of being the deputy with the lowest attendance rate, being present for only 23.6% of parliamentary votes.

Schellhorn was the lead candidate for NEOS in the 2018 Salzburg state election. The party achieved its best result to date in a state election, winning 7.3% and three seats. In a major breakthrough, it then joined a coalition government with the ÖVP and Greens, though Schellhorn himself did not become a minister.

After Beate Meinl-Reisinger became federal chairwoman of NEOS in October 2018, Schellhorn was elected deputy chairman, alongside Nikolaus Scherak.

Schellhorn did not seek re-election as deputy chairman at a party congress in June 2021. On 24 June, he announced his retirement from politics to focus on his business endeavours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schellhorn, Sepp
1967 births
Living people
21st-century Austrian politicians
Members of the National Council (Austria)
NEOS – The New Austria politicians