| Date | 2025 |
| Type | Presidential election |
| Event | 2025 Polish presidential election |
| Country | |
| Outcome | Political outsider won, likely to have significant ramifications for Poland's future |
| Incumbent | None (no incumbent running) |
| Candidates | Range of candidates, including a political outsider who won |
| Key issues | Allegations of media bias • Electoral irregularities • Pledge to reform increasingly authoritarian government |
The 2025 Polish presidential election took place against a backdrop of growing concerns over the country's democratic institutions. Since the 2015 constitutional changes that strengthened the presidency at the expense of the prime minister and parliament, Poland has been drifting towards a more authoritarian model of governance.
The previous president, Andrzej Duda, died unexpectedly in early 2024, leaving an open race to determine his successor. With no incumbent running, the election featured a diverse field of candidates representing a wide range of political ideologies.
The major candidates included:
The election was highly polarized, with the candidates offering starkly divergent visions for Poland's future.
The run-up to the election was marred by allegations of media bias and electoral tampering. State-controlled television and radio were accused of giving outsized coverage and favorable treatment to the PiS candidate, Morawiecki. There were also reports of voter intimidation, ballot-box stuffing, and other irregularities in certain regions.
International election observers expressed concerns about the integrity of the process, but the government dismissed these claims as foreign meddling. Tensions were high as Poles went to the polls.
In a surprise outcome, the winner of the election was Szymon Hołownia, a political outsider and TV personality with no prior government experience. Hołownia, running as an independent, campaigned on a platform of reforming Poland's constitution to restore a balance of power and clamp down on corruption.
Hołownia's victory was seen as a rebuke of the PiS government's authoritarian tendencies, even if his policy agenda remained somewhat vague. His inauguration in early 2026 was met with both celebration from pro-democracy forces and alarm from nationalist hardliners.
The new president now faces the daunting task of navigating Poland's deeply polarized political landscape and implementing the democratic reforms he promised. His ability to do so will have major implications for the future direction of the country and its relationship with the European Union.
