Parliamentary elections to both the Sejm and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

were held in Poland on 25 October 2015 for the eighth term of the Sejm 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 Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

(PiS), with 37.6% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform (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 succeeded PO leader

Ewa Kopacz Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; given name, née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold th ...

as Prime Minister of Poland, heading a one-party

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. 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 party-list proportional representation via the D'hondt method in multi-seat constituencies, 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

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

s. To be included on a ballot, 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 and can thus govern autonomously, without the need for support from other parties. The constitution can be amended with a

supermajority 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 ru ...

of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

Election date

The date of the election, 25 October, was set by the previous President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski. 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 Civic Platform– Polish People's Party 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,

won the election with 37.58% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform, which gained a 24.09% share. Beata Szydło became the new Prime Minister, succeeding

. 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 Kukiz'15 is a right-wing populist political party in Poland led by Paweł Kukiz. It was formed in 2015 as a loose movement that registered itself as an association in 2016 and later as a political party in 2020. Initially, it was connected with ...

(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 Poli ...

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

party (4th place). Two of the biggest losers were Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party. 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, 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;",

, 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 , 277,622 , 1.83 , 9 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Poland Together , 145,358 , 0.96 , 6 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;", Right Wing of the Republic , 48,442 , 0.32 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#008000;", , style="text-align:left;", Piast Faction , 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;", Civic Platform , 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;", Polish People's Party* , 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 , 73,641 , 0.48 , 3 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress of the New Right* , 25,831 , 0.17 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Real Politics Union , 12,080 , 0.08 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#3DD4C7;", , style="text-align:left;",

Direct Democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

, 7,611 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;", Right Wing of the Republic , 4,409 , 0.03 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Self-Defence* , 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;", Poland Together , 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;", Solidary Poland , 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 Modern ( pl, Nowoczesna, styled as ".Nowoczesna") is a centrist political party in Poland. It is currently led by Adam Szłapka. It was formed in 2015 as "ModernPL" although due to controversy it had to change the name to ".Modern" later that ...

, 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;", Polish People's Party* , 875 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Civic Platform* , 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;", Democratic Left Alliance , 694,150 , 4.57 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Your Movement , 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 , 35,292 , 0.23 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Union , 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 , 3,621 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Polish Labour Party - August 80 The Polish Labour Party - August 80 ''( pl, Polska Partia Pracy-Sierpień 80, PPP)'' was a minor left-wing political party in Poland, describing itself as socialist. It was created on 11 November 2001 as the Alternative – Labour Party (''Alter ...

, 3,586 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Social Democracy of Poland , 1,600 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;", National Party of Retirees and Pensioners , 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 on ...

, 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;", Polish People's Party , 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 , 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;", Congress of the New Right* , 8,085 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", National Movement , 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 , 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;", National Party of Retirees and Pensioners , 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;", Real Politics Union , 477 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress of the New Right* , 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;", National Movement , 139 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Solidary Poland , 77 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

League of Polish Families The League of Polish Families (Polish: ''Liga Polskich Rodzin'', LPR) is a conservative political party in Poland, with many far-right elements in the past. The party's original ideology was that of the National Democracy movement which was heade ...

, 55 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Community , 50 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 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;", Right Wing of the Republic , 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;", Congress of the New Right , 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;", Self-Defence , 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 orga ...

, 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;", Civic Platform* , 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 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. However, it also noted that Kaczyński could step into the role of prime minister after the election. According to the Associated Press, 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, who died in the 2010 plane crash.

Notes

References

{{Elections in Poland Poland Parliamentary elections in Poland October 2015 events in Europe