Police said the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria destroyed his VW Phaeton V6 in the Saturday crash while speeding near Klagenfurt, Austria. He died of severe head, neck and chest injuries, as well as a broken spine, The Times of London reported Sunday.

Haider, the governor of Carinthia, had led his party to impressive parliamentary gains in last month's Austrian elections. Previously, he was chief of the much larger right-wing Freedom Party until he was ousted by former protege Heinz-Christian Strache, the British newspaper said.

The two parties combined polled 28 percent of the popular vote, and Haider's death might prompt the two far-right parties to merge.

Witnesses told The Times Haider had been to two parties before the crash -- an official local government event and a magazine launch. They said he was visibly tired when he gave his driver a night off and opted to drive his official car himself.