Dates of Polish presidential election announced

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s presidential election will take place on 18 May 2025, the speaker of parliament – who is responsible for calling the election – has announced. If no candidate wins over 50% of the vote, a second-round run-off between the top two will take place on 1 June.

The outcome of the election will be extremely significant, helping to determine to what extent the government will be able to push ahead with its agenda. Many of its policies have so far been opposed by incumbent President Andrzej Duda, who is aligned with the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Poland’s president plays little role in formulating policy and legislation. However, they can veto bills passed by parliament – a power Duda has used – while they also serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and play a role in foreign policy.

Duda, who was first elected in 2015 and won a second and final term in 2020, will leave office on 6 August this year. According to the electoral code, the election to choose his successor must be announced between seven and six months before then and the vote must take place between 100 and 75 days before then.

The election dates of 18 May and 1 June were revealed today by Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of the Sejm, the more powerful lower house of parliament (and who is himself also a candidate in the presidential election).

Hołownia noted that he will formally call the elections next Wednesday, 15 January. From that point, official campaigning will begin (though candidates have already been conducting unofficial “pre-campaigns”).

He added that, before next Wednesday, he plans to coordinate with the government and the head of the National Electoral Commission (PKW), Sylwester Marciniak, to agree on “technical details” concerning the process, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

The two leading candidates in the election are Rafał Trzaskowski – the mayor of Warsaw and deputy leader of the centrist Civic Platform (PO) that is Poland’s main ruling party – and Karol Nawrocki, head of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), who is an independent supported by the national-conservative PiS.

PO’s coalition partners have also put forward two candidates: Hołownia, who is supported by his own centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050) party and the centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL); and Magdalena Biejat, the deputy speaker of the upper-house Senate, who represents The Left (Lewica).

The final major candidate so far is Sławomir Mentzen, one of the leaders of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja).

Hołownia had initially planned to formally call the elections today. But there were doubts as to whether that would be legal because elections cannot be held within 90 days of the end of a state of emergency.

From 16 September to 16 October Poland was under a state of emergency due to deadly floods that devastated parts of the country.

Only on 14 January will it have been 90 days since the state of emergency ended. So Hołownia said he would wait until 15 January to formally call the election in order to avoid any legal questions over its validity.

However, there are also ongoing legal concerns over the status of the Supreme Court chamber tasked with overseeing elections, which was set up when PiS was in power. The European Court of Justice has ruled that it is not a valid body due to being staffed with illegitimately appointed judges.

That chamber is responsible for assessing appeals against decisions by the electoral commission and for giving final validation of election results. If its status is in question, that could also raise doubts over the electoral process.

Hołownia has previously called for lawmakers, the government and the president to find a legislative solution that would remove any such question marks over the chamber and its decisions.

Candidates wishing to take part in the presidential election can still notify the electoral commission of their desire to stand until 24 March. By 4 April, they must submit at least 100,000 public signatures in support of their candidacy in order to be registered. Candidates must also be at least 35 years old.

Polling has consistently shown Trzaskowski in first place with support of 30-40% ahead of Nawrocki, who has 20-30%. They also find that Trzaskowski would likely win a run-off vote with Nawrocki.

However, in 2015, polls changed dramatically over the course of the campaign. Duda began as a rank outsider against PO-backed incumbent Bronisław Komorowski before quickly closing the gap in the polls and emerging victorious in the election itself.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: KPRP

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.