Parliamentary elections to both the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

and Senate were held in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 25 October 2015 for the eighth term of the

of the Republic of Poland, which ran from 12 November 2015 until 2019. The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), with 37.6% of the vote against the governing

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It ...

(PO), which achieved 24.1%. Official results, announced on 27 October, gave Law and Justice 235 of 460 seats (51 percent), a majority of four. PiS vice chairwoman

Beata Szydło Beata Maria Szydło (, née Kusińska , 15 April 1963) is a Polish politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), she previously served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2015 ...

succeeded PO leader Ewa Kopacz as

Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...

, heading a one-party cabinet. It was the first election for a national parliament in Europe since the 1993 Norwegian elections in which the two largest parties were led by a female candidate, and the second election in history (also since the 1993 Norwegian election) where more than three parties fielded female leadership candidates. It was also the first election in Poland since the restoration of full democracy that a party won an absolute majority in the Sejm.

Electoral system

The process of election for the Sejm is through

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' ( ...

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

via the

D'hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...

in multi-seat

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

, with a 5% national threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for ethnic minorities). The senate is elected using

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

in single-member districts. To be included on a

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

, a senate candidate must present 2,000 signatures of support from their constituents. For Sejm elections, the threshold is 5,000 signatures per constituency, though that requirement is waived for parties that have already registered lists in at least half of all constituencies (21 out of 41 as of this election). Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

and can thus govern autonomously, without the need for support from other parties. The constitution can be amended with a supermajority of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

Election date

The date of the election, 25 October, was set by the previous

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...

. The latest possible date for the election to be held was in November 2015, four years after the previous election. Prior to the announcement of the election date, the most likely dates were thought to be in October or November. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2011 the

–

Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party ( pl, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) is an agrarian political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although i ...

coalition government, in power since 2007, won a second term. All 460 seats in the Sejm and 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.

Parties standing in the election

Nationwide committees

Regional committees

Opinion polls

Results

The opposition party, Law and Justice won the election with 37.58% of the vote against the governing

, which gained a 24.09% share.

became the new

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, succeeding Ewa Kopacz. Law and Justice became the first party in Poland to win majority government in a free election, since 1991. The other parties considered winners were two newcomer parties, Kukiz's Movement (third place) and

Ryszard Petru Ryszard Jerzy Petru (born 6 July 1972, in Wrocław, Poland) is a Polish politician. He served as an assistant to several members of parliament in the 1990s. He has worked as an economist for the World Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers and several Pol ...

's Modern party (4th place). Two of the biggest losers were

and the

. PO suffered its worst result in a parliamentary election in ten years, ending eight years of political dominance. The PSL, the junior partner in the outgoing government, had its worst result in 25 years (5.13%), just crossing the 5% threshold by a few thousand votes. Another perceived loser was the

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Pol ...

, Poland's largest left-wing party, which failed to win a seat for the first time since the change of system. The SLD ran as the largest partner of the United Left, which was 0.5% short of the 8% threshold for electoral alliances to win seats.

Sejm

Party breakdown

, - style="background-color:#C0DBFC; text-align:center;" ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Parties and coalitions ! Votes ! % ! Seats , - , rowspan="6" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Law and Justice , 4,487,339 , 29.52 , 193 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 746,474 , 4.91 , 26 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Solidary Poland United Poland ( pl, Solidarna Polska, abbreviated to SP, lit. "Solidary Poland", alternatively translated as "Solidarity Poland") is a Christian nationalism, Catholic-nationalist List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland led by ...

, 277,622 , 1.83 , 9 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Poland Together Poland Together ( pl, Polska Razem, PR or PRZP), formally Poland Together United Right (''Polska Razem Zjednoczona Prawica''), was a conservative-liberal political party in Poland. The party was founded on 7 December 2013 by former Minister of ...

, 145,358 , 0.96 , 6 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;",

Right Wing of the Republic The Right Wing of the Republic ( pl, Prawica Rzeczypospolitej) is a political party in Poland founded by former ''Marshal of the Sejm'' Marek Jurek on 20 April 2007 after he had left Law and Justice on 16 April 2007, when the Sejm failed to pass ...

, 48,442 , 0.32 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#008000;", , style="text-align:left;",

Piast Faction Piast Faction ( pl, Stronnictwo Piast, SP), informally Piast Party, formerly Polish People's Party "Piast" ( pl, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Piast, PSL Piast); is a political party founded in 2006. Piast refers to the medieval Piast dynasty, Pola ...

, 6,452 , 0.04 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 5,711,687 , 37.58 , 235 , - , rowspan="3" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 3,142,767 , 20.68 , 126 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 516,457 , 3.40 , 12 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 2,250 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 3,661,474 , 24.09 , 138 , - , rowspan="12" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 1,207,419 , 7.94 , 37 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

National Movement Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, 73,641 , 0.48 , 3 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Congress of the New Right The Congress of the New Right ( pl, Kongres Nowej Prawicy, Nowa Prawica or just KNP) is an economically libertarian, socially conservative and Eurosceptic political party in Poland. The party was founded on 25 March 2011 by Janusz Korwin-Mikke ...

* , 25,831 , 0.17 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Real Politics Union The Real Politics Union ( pl, Unia Polityki Realnej, UPR) is a national conservative and economically liberal political party in Poland. In the past it was right-libertarian and classical liberal. Popular support and funding UPR was founded in ...

, 12,080 , 0.08 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#3DD4C7;", , style="text-align:left;", Direct Democracy , 7,611 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 4,409 , 0.03 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Self-Defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

* , 2,138 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#F6B800;", , style="text-align:left;", Libertarian Party , 1,664 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1,306 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#083A7F;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Faction , 1,061 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1,012 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Community , 922 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,339,094 , 8.81 , 42 , - , rowspan="5" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 965,130 , 6.40 , 23 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", .Modern , 185,188 , 1.22 , 5 , - , style="background-color:blue;", , style="text-align:left;", Women's Party , 3,707 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 875 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 470 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,155,370 , 7.60 , 28 , - , rowspan="11" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 694,150 , 4.57 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Your Movement Your Movement ( pl, Twój Ruch, which can also be translated as ''Your Move'', TR) is a social liberal, populist and anti-clerical political party in Poland. The party was founded by Janusz Palikot, a former Civic Platform MP, in October 2 ...

, 220,326 , 1.45 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 164,345 , 1.08 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

, 35,292 , 0.23 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Labour Union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

, 18,181 , 0.12 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Alliance of Democrats , 3,796 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

, 3,621 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Labour Party - August 80 , 3,586 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Social Democracy of Poland The Social Democracy of Poland ( pl, Socjaldemokracja Polska, SDPL) is a social-democratic political party in Poland. Foundation The party was founded in April 2004 as a splinter group from the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). Th ...

, 1,600 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;",

National Party of Retirees and Pensioners National Party of Retirees and Pensioners ( pl, Krajowa Partia Emerytów i Rencistów, KPEiR) is a minor political party in Poland. The main goal of KPEiR is protecting retired seniors, pensioners and trust-busting. The current leader (Prezes, P ...

, 1,098 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Democratic Party – demokraci.pl The Democratic Party ( pl, Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl), abbreviated to PD, was a minor social-liberal political party in Poland. It had no members of the Sejm, Senate, or European Parliament. Its foundation was publicly announced o ...

, 850 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,147,102 , 7.55 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 673,483 , 4.43 , 16 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 106,392 , 0.70 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 779,875 , 5.13 , 16 , - , rowspan="5" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

KORWiN The New Hope (, NN), previously known as Confederation for the Renewal of the Republic Liberty and Hope (, KORWiN/Liberty), is a right-wing populist political party in Poland. It is currently led by Sławomir Mentzen. It was founded in 2015 by ...

, 480,029 , 3.16 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 231,810 , 1.52 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 8,085 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2,919 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#F6B800;", , style="text-align:left;", Libertarian Party , 88 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 722,999 , 4.76 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Together ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...

, 501,195 , 3.30 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 49,154 , 0.32 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 550,349 , 3.62 , 0 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:#000000;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 42,731 , 0.28 , 0 , - style="background-color:#000000; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga , 42,731 , 0.28 , 0 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 27,530 , 0.18 , 1 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 27,530 , 0.18 , 1 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:#F0D719;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 18,668 , 0.12 , 0 , - style="background-color:#F0D719;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", United for Silesia , 18,668 , 0.12 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:#2C4D94;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 15,234 , 0.10 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 422 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#2C4D94; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", JOW Bezpartyjni , 15,656 , 0.10 , 0 , - , rowspan="13" style="background-color:#A52A2A;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 11,228 , 0.07 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#CC0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Unity of the Nation , 520 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 477 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 356 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#0000CC;", , style="text-align:left;", Popular National Alliance , 115 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 139 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", League of Polish Families , 55 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Community , 50 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Law and Justice* , 43 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#000099;", , style="text-align:left;", National Alliance of the Name of Dmowski Roman , 27 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Brave Dad , 14 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#A52A2A; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" , 13,113 , 0.09 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2,850 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 2,002 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 4,852 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2,660 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 1,606 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 4,266 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="4" style="background-color:#FF0000;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Social Justice Movement , 2,753 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 986 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", White-Red , 192 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FFFF00;", , style="text-align:left;",

Freedom and Equality The Freedom and Equality ( pl, Wolność i Równość, WiR), previously called Union of the Left ( pl, Unia Lewicy, UL); is a minor social-democratic political party in Poland founded on 20 March 2005 through the union of several left-wing org ...

, 10 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Social Movement of the Republic of Poland , 3,941 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="3" style="background-color:#D20000;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 1,790 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Alliance of Democrats , 155 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 19 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#D20000; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Citizens to Parliament , 1,964 , 0.01 , 0 , - , colspan="6" style="text-align:left;", Source
National Electoral Commission
* – individual members running on lists different from their own parties

By constituency

Senate

Reactions

Political analysts noted that the election marked the first time in the post-communist era that a political party received enough votes to form a majority government.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

suggested that Law and Justice's strategy of putting forward Szydło as its candidate for prime minister was a "winning formula" in the election. Szydło was widely perceived as being more moderate than PiS' outspoken leader,

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...

. However, it also noted that Kaczyński could step into the role of prime minister after the election. According to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, the new Sejm was the most right-wing parliament in Europe due to the absence of centre-left MPs in the chamber. All five parties in the Sejm tilted rightward on social issues. Between them, left-leaning alliances only gained 11 percent of the vote. Kopacz swiftly conceded defeat after exit polls from TVP showed PiS on its way to a majority, while Kaczyński declared victory and hailed his party's historic majority. Kaczyński also paid tribute to his late brother, President

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

, who died in the 2010 plane crash.

Notes

References

{{Elections in Poland

Parliamentary elections in Poland October 2015 events in Europe