Youngsters in Poland voted overwhelmingly for conservative and anti-establishment politicians in the country’s presidential elections, signalling their frustration with the ruling liberal elites.
The elections were won by conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki who narrowly defeated the liberal candidate and Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, who was backed by the ruling liberal-centrist party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
According to a breakdown of voter preferences, 53% of the 18-39 age group voted for Nawrocki, a stark reversal from five years ago, when 64% of them supported Trzaskowski when he stood against the incumbent president Andrzej Duda.
What is even more striking, however, is that in the first round of voting, more than half of young voters backed two anti-establishment figures: right-wing Konfederacja leader Sławomir Mentzen and Adrian Zandberg of the left-wing Razem party.
Mentzen came third with almost 15% of the votes, and a huge majority of his supporters backed conservative Nawrocki in the second round.
The Polish data coincides with European trends, which shows that anti-establishment and right-wing parties are popular among younger voters who increasingly see the ruling elites as out of touch with reality.
