Poland’s presidential runoff election has concluded with Karol Nawrocki emerging as the winner, according to the final vote count released by the Polish National Electoral Commission (PKW) on Monday. Nawrocki, an independent candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, secured the top spot, with the PKW’s official website confirming the result by stating “Elected in the second round” next to his name. Nawrocki is set to succeed the incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, whose second and final term ends on August 6.
Who Is Karol Nawrocki?
Karol Nawrocki, born in Gdansk in 1983, a historian and head of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, has won the presidential runoff election with 50.89 per cent of the vote and defeated Rafal Trzaskowski, the Civic Coalition candidate and Warsaw mayor, who secured 49.11 per cent.
Despite trailing in polls, Nawrocki’s campaign ultimately prevailed. As an ally of the Law and Justice party, Nawrocki follows in the footsteps of departing President Andrzej Duda, who frequently clashed with the current parliamentary majority.
This poll was Nawrocki’s first presidential campaign and it turned out his victory.
An initial exit poll released on Sunday, June 1, 2025, indicated Trzaskowski was likely to win, but updated projections later that evening told a different story, reversing the earlier trend.
In 2015 polls, Andrzej Duda, candidate of the Law and Justice party (PiS), won the presidential election, marking a shift towards conservative policies. In the 2020 polls, Duda was re-elected as President, defeating Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of the Civic Platform (PO).
