Election results at a glance

Parliamentary election in Poland 1997

Results of the parliamentary election on 09/25/1997
AWS
SLD
UW
PSL
ROp
UP
Other
33.8
27.1
13.4
7.3
5.6
4.7
8.1
+33.8
+6.7
+13.4
-8.1
+5.6
-2.6
+6.5

Political orientation of parties

AWS
SLD
UW
PSL
ROp
UP
What do the symbols mean?
To make parties easier to compare, the symbols indicate a party’s political orientation. These categories provide a quick overview. More detailed information on political positions can be found on the party subpages.
Far left
Left
Centre-left
Centre
Transversal
Unknown
Centre-right
Right
Far right
Liberal
Environment & climate
Regional
Animal rights
Satirical

Electoral threshold

5% for parties, 8% for coalitions.

Voter turnout

Voter turnout was 48.0%.
Current election trend for Poland
Poll results, coalitions, and election outcomes
Historical elections in Poland
Results, coalitions, and data

Information on the electoral system

Direct election

Voters elect representatives directly.

Party list voting

Voters vote for a party list rather than individual candidates.

Proportional representation

Seats are allocated based on parties’ share of the vote.

Single round

The election is decided in one round.

Free

Elections are free and fair, with genuine competition.

Seat distribution and possible coalitions

460
Majority from 231 seats
AWS
201
43.7%
SLD
164
35.7%
UW
60
13%
PSL
27
5.9%
ROp
6
1.3%
MN
2
0.4%

The government cannot remain in office

The incumbent governing parties secured 41.5% of the seats.
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność + SLD
Right
79.3%
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność + Unia Wolności
Right
56.7%
SLD + Unia Wolności + PSL
Centre-left
54.6%
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność + PSL + Ruch Odbudowy Polski
Right
50.9%
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność + PSL
Right
49.6%
SLD + Unia Wolności
Centre-left
48.7%
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność + Ruch Odbudowy Polski
Right
45.0%
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność
Right
43.7%

Important political parties in Poland

Key players in parliamentary competition
This overview shows all parties that, based on current polling, have a realistic chance of entering parliament in Poland or significantly shape the political debate. Classifying their political orientation is essential for understanding bloc formation and the mathematically possible majorities in the next parliament.
More parties
All political parties in Poland at a glance
What do the parties stand for?
Information, comparisons, and data on parties in Poland

Accuracy of pre-election polls

Deviation of pre-election polls from the election result

Detailed party results

Sources of data and information

PolitPro

PolitPro brings together scientific data and current poll results to make politics tangible for everyone. We use datasets from leading research projects and complement them with our own research, analyses, and algorithms. This allows us to make complex political contexts accessible and easy to understand. Supported by AI.

Found a mistake?

Political data changes every day. If you notice an error, feel free to send us an email. A short source reference helps us review the information.

ParlGov – Parliamentary Democracy Data

Long-running research data from the University of Bremen. It documents political parties and governments and enables systematic political comparison.
More
Döring, Holger and Philip Manow. 2024. Parliaments and governments database (ParlGov): Information on parties, elections and cabinets in established democracies.

CHES – Chapel Hill Expert Survey

Europe’s most important expert survey on party positions. More than 400 political scientists from different countries assess party positions based on scientific criteria.
More
Rovny, Jan, Ryan Bakker, Liesbet Hooghe, Seth Jolly, Gary Marks, Jonathan Polk, Marco Steenbergen, and Milada Vachudova. “25 Years of Political Party Positions in Europe: The Chapel Hill Expert Survey, 1999-2024,”