On 1 June 2025, Poles elected a new president. To the surprise of many, the winner was Karol Nawrocki, a previously unknown and unrecognisable figure. He received 50.89% of the vote in the second round, representing the largest right-wing party, PiS (Law and Justice), which lost the parliamentary elections in 2023.
2023 was a significant year for Poland. Voter turnout reached 74.4%. Many voters were motivated by a desire to remove the PiS government, which had been in power for eight years. Although PiS received the most votes (35.38%), it was unable to form a coalition government.
A coalition of four different parties was formed instead, led by Donald Tusk from the largest one KO (Civic Coalition).
This background is important to understand what happened in this year’s presidential election. It wasn’t that Nawrocki won – it’s that the ruling camp and KO lost.
A year and a half ago, the new government promised change – change in abortion laws (one of the main reasons people voted in 2023), a fight against nepotism, improvements to the healthcare system, environmental protection, and the restoration of the rule of law.
None of that happened. They used the excuse that any laws concerning, for example, civil unions or abortion liberalisation would be vetoed by then-president Andrzej Duda, also from the right-wing PiS party. In reality, they didn’t even try to propose such legislation.
The coalition, formed by four pro-capitalist parties, has been continuously arguing, unable to agree even on minor issues, such as making 24 December a public holiday (which was eventually passed after lengthy debate).
The government promised better housing policy but instead proposed subsidies for developers, saying nothing about council housing. Soon, they began filling all positions previously held by PiS loyalists with their own people. They revealed the true face of liberal governments and the capitalist class – and that’s why they lost the presidential election.
One of Poland’s most recognisable politicians lost to a man previously unknown, accused in the past of being a hooligan, a pimp, and involved in several other controversies. This reflects how deeply disappointed Poles are with the current government.
No confidence
Following the election results, Donald Tusk filed a motion for a vote of confidence in his government. To win it, the Council of Ministers needs a simple majority – at least 231 votes. The ruling coalition has 242 MPs. If the vote fails, the prime minister is obliged to resign and submit their resignation to the president.
Recently in Germany, we witnessed the collapse of the traffic light coalition, where the government was incapable of formulating a unified policy. Although there’s no indication of such a collapse in Poland yet, considering the state of the current government, it’s not impossible that it could follow the same path.
There, too, it was the far-right AfD that benefited from the collapse.
In the first round of the Polish presidential election, Sławomir Mentzen from the far-right party Konfederacja was placed third. His campaign slogans included “Stop Leftist Ideology”, “No to Polish Troops in Ukraine”, and “Low and Simple Taxes”.
In fourth place, likely the biggest surprise of the election, was Grzegorz Braun – an extreme nationalist and anti-Semite receiving 6%.
Combined with Nawrocki’s victory, right-wing parties received 50% of the vote in the first round. As we see across many European countries, the electoral support for the right is rising. This is a direct result of ruling liberal capitalist parties failing to deliver meaningful change.
Increasingly, seeing electoral support for right forces grow, liberal capitalist parties are beginning to repeat their policies. For example, in March, the Polish government temporarily suspended the right of migrants to enter from Belarus. However, far from the intended effect of cutting across support for right-wing forces, it has the opposite effect.
While the two major parties in Poland are still holding on, these elections demonstrate a deepening polarisation. Like in the UK, where the protest vote benefited Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, in Poland too, the winners were the right-wing parties positioning themselves as ‘anti-establishment’. Their success shows the urgent need for a party that truly represents working-class people.
The elections revealed what Polish voters are most concerned about: affordable homes and decent paying jobs, proper health care and education, and war with Russia. We also saw the issues on which the right whip up voters’ fears, such as illegal immigration.
No solutions
However, the right-wing parties offer no solutions, just as the liberal capitalist ones don’t. None have any genuine interest in improving the lives of working-class people.
Left-wing parties have struggled to grow and make electoral gains, there has been no viable socialist alternative. Poland’s post-Stalinist history and the influence of the catholic church have been factors. However, with a new generation coming of age, interest in the left is slowly growing.
In the first round of this year’s presidential elections, among voters aged 18–29, the most popular candidate was Mentzen from the far-right Confederation, with 36.1% support.
Second was Adrian Zandberg, with 19.7% of young voters’ support. Zandberg received around 5% of the overall vote – a stable result. He did not endorse either candidate in the second round.
He ran as the candidate of Razem (‘Together’) currently the furthest left party in Poland. Until recently, Razem was part of The Lewica (‘The Left’) coalition, which is also part of the current liberal capitalist government.
After the 2023 elections, Razem chose to remain in the coalition but not to join the government. It was offered ministerial positions but no budget to fulfil its key promises, such as building council housing. Its decision to refuse government positions sparked controversy – it was the first time it had a chance to hold power, and it didn’t take it.
However, it was a principled decision not to take positions just for the sake of power which allowed Razem to criticise the government from the left. By leaving ‘the Left’ they parted ways with the ruling government. Zandberg has also announced that Razem’s five MPs will vote against Donald Tusk’s vote of confidence.
The problem for the left in Poland is that it appeals more to young, liberal people from larger cities, for whom issues regarding LGBTQ+ rights or abortion are more important than social, housing, or workers’ issues. Of course, this is not to discredit these social problems. Poland is a country whose legislation treats LGBTQ+ individuals the worst in the entire European Union, and the fight for abortion rights has been ongoing for many years. However, equality views should go hand in hand with a genuine desire to change the system.
Razem has a chance to do that. Zandberg focused his campaign on healthcare (calling for 8% of GDP to be spent on it), the housing crisis, and respect for minorities in Poland. It needs to build a base of support among the working class by clearly presenting a programme that can and deliver for the working class.
In recent German elections, we witnessed the rise of AfD, but also significant gains for the left party Die Linke, which gained over two million more votes than in the previous federal election in 2021. This shows a growing support for left politics.
The next general election in Poland will be held in 2027. For now, a right-wing coalition of PiS and Confederation seems the most likely scenario. Razem has two years to focus on campaigning and class struggle.
If trade unions, migrant organisations, and other social and protest movements unite to resist the government’s inevitable attacks, both in workplaces and on the streets, they could lay the foundation for a new mass political force. Razem has the potential to help, but only if it roots itself in workers’ and youth struggles and commits to a bold, socialist programme of action.