The 2020 Riga City Council election was held from 26 to 29 August 2020 to elect the 60 members of Riga City Council. The election was initially scheduled for 25 April 2020, and then rescheduled three times – once due to a court ruling and twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia, to 2 May, 6 June, and 29 August. The council was elected for nearly five years instead of the standard four, and the following election took place in 2025, at the same time as other municipal elections in Latvia.
Background In the 2017 Riga City Council election, the political alliance of Harmony (SKDS) and Honor to serve Riga (GKR) lost 7 seats but held on to their absolute majority with 32 seats out of 60. Nils Ušakovs was re-elected as the mayor of Riga, and served until 4 April 2019, when the Latvian minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūce fired him. On 31 May Dainis Turlais from GKR was elected as the new mayor of Riga, but was ousted by a vote of no-confidence on 20 June, after just 21 days in the position. On 19 August Oļegs Burovs from GKR was elected as the new mayor of Riga, and served until 24 February 2020, when the City Council was officially dissolved.
Opinion polls
Fieldwork datePolling firm/CommissionerSample sizeSDPSGKRNA/LRAAP!/PV/JVJKPZZSLKSKPV LVAltPNL/JS Other LeadNALRALA/AP!PRO(published on 26 August 2020)SKDS/LTV136622.78.310.522.310.86.14.96.52.23.11.90.80.43-23 August 2020Factum15.48.110.523.613.98.35.78.41.2(1-2%)(1-2%)4.98.2?-21 August 2020Berg Research50021.1910.818.312.95.46.96.92.43.62.72,827 July-16 AugustFactum73915.69.39.722.913.68.26.27.81.3(1-2%)(1-2%)5.47.320 July-9 August 2020Factum82916.39.79.322.812.496.56.81.4(1-2%)(1-2%)5.86.513 July-1 August 2020Factum87316.610.19.123.211.19.27.46.11.3(1-2%)(1-2%)4.96.624-28 July 2020SKDS/LTV100821,58,511,722,696,85,35,52,20,75,21,01,122 June-12 JulyFactum41218,38,510,523,710,99,86,16,41,64,25,42-6 July 2020SKDS/LTV55633,25,98,623,38,45,76,151,91,50,49,925 May-14 June 2020Factum71619,911,510,521,6137,93,66,30,65,11,718-31 May 2020Factum63621,710,710,220138,54,55,70,65,11,7May 2020SKDS/LTV365,910,116,68,19,73,26,62,31,10,419,4 7–26 April 2020Factum70523,2108,721,1128,94,36,8152,1 4–27 March 2020Factum108724,29,29,220,511,39,25,371,133,7 24–28 February 2020Factum37726,66,98,320,8129,55,26,11,72,95,8 18–21 February 2020SKDS/LTV36429812,81,316,311,610,84,23,80,71,512,728 January-1 February 2020Factum36228,37,68,31,713,46,413,99,92,75,10,91,614,418-31 December 2019Factum51126,45,39,32,412,65,415,4101,87,71,22,51121-24 November 2019Factum24,36,891,816,6616,28,826,61,97,3October 2019Factum25,36,28,41,717,25,715,49,61,67,22,77,8September 2019Factum24,57,28,61,816,55,315,29,51,68,11,78August 2019Factum24,95,78,71,017,6413,512,61,78,91,47,322-29 July 2019Factum20525,16,99,20,817,412,5131,794,27,72017 Riga City Council election50,89,313,7 -6,313,43,3 -1,5 -0,321,337,1
Results The coalition of the centrist Development/For! alliance and centre-left The Progressives (both new entities which did not participate in the prior elections) obtained a plurality of votes and seats. The election resulted in both parties of the governing coalition (Social Democratic Party "Harmony" and Honor to serve Riga) lose seats, and saw their combined vote share decline by nearly half. The Latvian Russian Union returned to the city council for the first time since 2009, obtaining four seats, while the New Conservative Party saw their seat count drop by five. The Union of Greens and Farmers fell less than 1% short of the 5% threshold needed to enter the council.
As no party held a majority, a coalition was needed, with 31 seats needed for a majority coalition.
References