Karol Nawrocki, a 42-year-old conservative historian, won the run-off of the Polish presidential election on June 1, securing 50.89% of the vote against the liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski. This victory, one of the tightest in Poland’s post-communist history, was achieved after Mr. Nawrocki finished second in the first round of voting on May 18, with 29.54% against Mr. Trzaskowski’s 31.36%.
Mr. Nawrocki’s victory came as a surprise to many observers, as initial exit polls on election night showed Mr. Trzaskowski with a narrow lead. His path to victory was built on successfully mobilising voters who in the first round had supported far-right candidates, overcoming Mr. Trzaskowski’s first-place finish in the initial ballot.
