The 52-year-oldTrzaskowski defeated his only rival, Radosław Sikorski, the foreign minister, by 74.75% of the vote by KO members to 25.25%. In total 22,126 KO members voted.

The ballot was carried out on Friday, with over 25,000 KO members eligible to vote, and the result was announced on Saturday by the KO leader, Donald Tusk, who is also prime minister.

Poland chooses its next president in 2025 owing to the fact that Andrzej Duda, the incumbent, will finish his second five-year term in August 2025 and is barred by the constitution from seeking re-election.

In the 2020 presidential election, Trzaskowski lost by a small percentage of votes to Duda, an ally of the former ruling party, the socially-conservative Law and Justice (PiS).

The Warsaw mayor’s appeal is particularly strong among left-leaning younger voters, who constituted a backbone of his 2020 support.

In 2025, Trzaskowski’s main contender will be a PiS candidate who is yet to be named.

The right-wing opposition party has already said its presidential candidate will be “non-partisan,” hinting that it will plump for a contender untarnished by a series of controversies during the grouping’s time in power.

Karol Nawrocki, head of the state-run Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), is widely seen as a potential PiS candidate for president.

The date for the presidential election has not been set, but the first round is expected in May, with a potential runoff two weeks later if no candidate secures an outright majority.

KO is a coalition consisting of its backbone party, the centrist Civic Platform, and three smaller members.