Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 25 October 2015. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), with 38% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform (PO), which achieved 24%. Official results, announced on 27 October, gave Law and Justice 235 of the 460 seats, a majority of four. PiS vice chairwoman Beata Szydło succeeded PO leader Ewa Kopacz as Prime Minister of Poland, heading a one-party cabinet.

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.

Following PiS's victory in the May 2015 presidential elections, PiS would have control over both the presidency and parliament for the next eight years.

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 districts. 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 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.

Contesting parties

Nationwide committees PartyLeaderIdeologiesPolitical spectrumPolitical groups of the European Parliament Civic Platform (PO) Ewa Kopacz Christian democracy, Liberal conservatism, Pro-Europeanism Centre to Centre-right European People's Party Group (EPP) Law and Justice (PiS)• Solidary Poland (SP) • Poland Together – United Right (PRZP) • Right Wing of the Republic (PRz) Jarosław Kaczyński Beata Szydło (PM candidate) National conservatism, Social conservatism, Euroscepticism European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) United Left (ZL)• Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) • Your Movement (TR)• Polish Socialist Party (PPS)• Labour Union (UP)• The Greens (Zieloni)• Polish Labour Party (PPP) Barbara Nowacka Social democracy, Social liberalism, Social progressivism, Green politics, Democratic socialism (minority), Feminism Centre-left to Left-wing Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Polish People's Party (PSL) Janusz Piechociński Christian democracy, strongly based around Agrarianism, Conservatism Centre-right European People's Party Group (EPP) Parties not in the Sejm before the election are below Coalition for the Renewal of the Republic - Liberty and Hope (KORWiN) Janusz Korwin-Mikke Right libertarianism, Anti-immigration, Hard-Euroscepticism, Paleolibertarianism Right-wing Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) Kukiz'15 (K'15) Paweł Kukiz Populism, Anti-establishment, Anti-particracyRightist Party That Made Auschwitz Joke Wins Polish Elections Haaretz, 27 October 2015 Big tent to Right-wingPoland expected to turn inward under right-wing party The Washington Post, 26 October 2015 Modern (.N) Ryszard Petru Social liberalism, Economic liberalism, Pro-Europeanism Centre to Centre-rightTogether (Razem)collective leadership Social democracy, Democratic socialism, ProgressivismCentre-left to Left-wing

Regional committees PartyLeaderIdeologyPolitical spectrumPolitical groups of the European Parliament German Minority Electoral Committee (MN) Ryszard Galla Regionalism, German minority interests Centre Parties not in the Sejm before the election are below Congress of the New Right (KNP) Michał Marusik Right libertarianism, New Right, Euroscepticism Right-wing Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) JOW Bezpartyjni (JOW) Robert Raczyński Pro single-member constituency Big tent Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga (KWW ZS) Zbigniew Stonoga Anti-communism, Civil libertarianism, Populism Big tent Social Movement of the Republic of Poland (RS RP) Agrarian socialism, Left-wing populism Left-wing United for Silesia (ZdŚ) Dietmar Brehmer Silesian regionalism, Fiscal federalism Centre Self-Defence (Samoobrona) Lech Kuropatwiński Agrarianism, Left-wing nationalism Left-wing Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" (SzB!) Grzegorz Braun Traditionalist conservatism, Polish nationalism, Monarchism Right-wing to far-right Citizens to Parliament (OdP) Jan Zbigniew Potocki Liberal democracy Big tent

Opinion polls

Results The opposition party, Law and Justice 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 Ewa Kopacz. 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 (third place) and Ryszard Petru's Modern 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

By constituency Constituency Turnout PiS PO K'15 .N ZL PSL KORWiN Together MN Others Lead1 – Legnica 46.71 35.70 25.24 9.59 7.15 10.45 3.89 4.32 3.64 - 0.00 10.462 – Wałbrzych 44.83 31.15 32.65 8.81 6.64 8.76 3.18 4.30 3.41 - 1.09 1.503 – Wrocław 54.08 31.21 30.49 8.74 10.65 6.10 2.60 5.22 4.21 - 0.77 0.724 – Bydgoszcz 47.87 30.20 29.64 7.77 7.30 10.04 6.07 4.54 3.76 - 0.68 0.565 – Toruń 44.90 33.57 25.77 8.32 6.50 10.76 6.75 3.90 3.65 - 0.78 7.806 – Lublin 52.01 47.57 16.59 9.32 4.54 5.98 7.74 5.00 2.75 - 0.52 30.987 – Chełm 45.30 48.02 12.31 10.47 3.75 7.11 11.39 4.37 2.39 - 0.18 35.718 – Zielona Góra 44.63 28.27 28.21 8.75 9.99 10.02 5.12 4.99 3.99 - 0.65 0.069 – Łódź 56.74 29.90 31.28 7.24 8.99 10.48 2.70 4.78 4.63 - 0.00 1.3810 – Piotrków Trybunalski 50.26 46.95 15.46 10.08 5.59 7.47 7.48 3.91 3.06 - 0.00 31.4911 – Sieradz 48.47 39.93 21.18 8.92 5.32 8.18 7.86 4.10 3.54 - 0.98 18.7512 – Chrzanów 54.46 49.05 20.42 8.67 5.79 5.33 3.03 4.45 3.26 - 0.00 28.6313 – Kraków 58.81 38.62 24.61 7.26 9.73 6.38 2.70 6.35 3.88 - 0.48 14.0114 – Nowy Sącz 52.18 60.56 13.95 7.83 3.69 2.55 4.16 4.31 2.13 - 0.80 46.6115 – Tarnów 51.85 51.99 14.71 9.60 4.54 3.41 8.08 4.72 2.43 - 0.53 37.2816 – Płock 46.22 43.78 16.44 8.41 5.15 8.14 10.66 4.07 3.35 - 0.00 27.3417 – Radom 49.38 47.49 17.55 8.41 4.81 4.82 9.42 3.91 2.62 - 0.98 29.9418 – Siedlce 50.56 51.10 13.55 8.36 4.63 4.35 10.23 4.35 2.66 - 0.76 37.5519 – Warsaw I 70.80 29.89 27.54 7.76 13.39 8.55 0.72 6.18 5.54 - 0.43 2.3520 – Warsaw II 60.00 38.80 25.12 7.22 10.01 5.66 3.80 4.81 3.85 - 0.73 13.6821 – Opole 43.12 27.77 26.23 12.57 7.14 6.75 3.68 3.95 3.02 8.14 0.75 1.5422 – Krosno 47.47 53.51 13.76 9.15 3.97 4.56 7.28 4.28 2.32 - 1.17 39.7523 – Rzeszów 52.56 56.11 13.11 9.28 4.16 4.42 4.67 4.96 2.29 - 1.00 43.0024 – Białystok 47.10 45.38 16.74 9.07 5.37 7.35 8.07 4.66 2.59 - 0.77 28.6425 – Gdańsk 52.55 29.61 34.72 7.15 9.17 6.59 3.02 5.00 3.98 - 0.75 5.1126 – Gdynia 51.28 31.22 33.46 8.02 8.22 6.64 3.23 4.43 4.05 - 0.75 2.2427 – Bielsko-Biała 56.35 40.42 23.57 9.36 8.27 6.56 3.42 4.68 3.72 - 0.00 16.8228 – Częstochowa 49.83 35.82 20.95 11.63 6.74 11.12 4.99 4.27 3.64 - 0.84 14.8729 – Gliwice 49.12 30.51 28.99 12.19 8.90 7.21 2.50 5.09 4.15 - 0.48 1.5230 – Rybnik 51.82 39.59 24.21 11.31 6.33 5.93 1.79 4.53 3.33 - 2.98 15.3831 – Katowice 53.92 32.92 28.37 10.05 8.66 6.77 0.99 5.55 4.08 - 2.61 4.5532 – Sosnowiec 51.41 29.65 25.56 10.24 8.97 13.97 2.35 4.81 4.44 - 0.00 4.0933 – Kielce 46.82 42.81 17.25 9.41 4.98 7.87 9.51 4.14 2.80 - 1.23 25.5634 – Elbląg 41.30 31.56 30.12 8.24 5.82 7.69 6.69 4.73 3.80 - 1.34 1.4435 – Olsztyn 43.13 30.42 27.07 8.97 6.82 8.76 8.44 5.10 3.74 - 0.68 3.3536 – Kalisz 47.27 31.85 24.69 7.98 7.04 8.82 10.98 4.25 3.17 - 1.23 7.1637 – Konin 46.64 37.41 20.23 8.83 6.94 11.77 6.86 3.99 3.98 - 0.00 17.1838 – Piła 46.07 27.26 31.02 9.01 6.98 9.15 7.66 4.07 3.92 - 0.93 3.7639 – Poznań 60.23 23.90 35.65 6.06 14.49 8.07 1.91 4.77 4.60 - 0.55 11.7540 – Koszalin 43.63 28.58 30.07 9.41 8.06 11.38 4.13 4.46 3.90 - 0.00 1.4941 – Szczecin 47.27 29.09 31.93 8.42 8.66 8.56 3.88 5.33 4.12 - 0.00 2.84 Poland 50.92 37.58 24.09 8.81 7.60 7.55 5.13 4.76 3.62 0.18 0.69 13.49

Senate

By constituency