Aleksander Miszalski, who was recalled in May, had governed Kraków for more than two years. Although he pushed through several reforms that were widely seen in a positive light, including a substantial pay rise for professional foster families and faster procedures for building the metro, residents quickly began to notice his favourable treatment of developers and the resulting chaos in city management.
The final straw, however, was the creation of a Clean Transport Zone in the city, which in its original form was set to hit owners of older car models hard in the pocket.
Several months after the referendum Kraków went to the polls again.
The first round of the presidential election in Kraków sends a fairly clear signal that part of the electorate is turning away from the two main blocs, although it doesn’t automatically mean that this is a permanent breakdown of the main political parties (liberal KO [Civic Coalition] and conservative PiS [Law and Justice]).
First round of the Kraków election
The vote in Kraków did not produce an easy outcome. After a tight race two candidates emerged who will face each other in the second round. The mayor’s office will be contested by Monika Piątkowska, a Civic Coalition (KO) senator, and independent Łukasz Gibała, leader of the Kraków for Residents association and a local councillor, formerly affiliated with Civic Platform (PO).
Gibała won 36.38% of the vote. Piątkowska took 29.91%, even though earlier forecasts had not predicted such strong support for her.
In third place was Michał Drewnicki of conservative Law and Justice (PiS) with 17.50% of the vote, and in fourth Aleksandra Owca of Together (Razem), who won 6.91%.
Gibała, a vocal critic of Kraków’s Clean Transport Zone, said in his speech that the second, decisive stage of the “fight for Kraków for its residents” would come in two weeks’ time.
He also promised to do everything he could “to restore hope and normality, clean up the mess, put an end to party politicking so that there are no ‘equal and more equal’, and to push as far away from Kraków as possible the polarisation that is destroying society and families”.
Monika Piątkowska also commented on the results, pledging to fight for “a good, calm, transparent and honest Kraków.”
Far-right Confederation without its own candidate
Although the far-right Confederation officially and on a large scale joined the campaign to collect signatures in support of the referendum, its candidate Bartosz Bocheńczak ultimately did not make it onto the ballot.
The City Electoral Commission refused to register his candidacy because, as Bocheńczak later admitted himself, he had gathered too few signatures.
Exit poll data show that Łukasz Gibała secured the backing of most Confederation voters.
He was chosen by 61.9% of those who had previously declared support for Confederation in the parliamentary elections.
Trends in the Polish parliamentary elections in 2027
Gibała’s result points to several trends that may be significant for Polish national politics. One of them is the ability of a candidate from outside the major parties to attract voters from diverse backgrounds.
According to OGB exit poll data, a significant portion of far right Konfederacja voters supported Gibała, suggesting that his campaign was able to transcend traditional party lines.
Kraków can therefore be seen as an example of the growing importance of candidates who build their own support bases and focus primarily on municipal issues, rather than identifying unambiguously with national parties.
Poor result for the conservative PiS candidate
After the election politicians also weighed in. Roman Giertych of Civic Coalition led by PM Donald Tusk wrote on X that “the result of the PiS candidate with Confederation absent is humiliating in Kraków.”
Piotr Gliński of conservative PiS, for his part, claimed that Kraków had seen “a defeat for Tusk’s coalition” and that the prime minister’s visit to the city was “the kiss of death.”
Konrad Berkowicz of Confederation was among those who spoke out, writing that “everything must be done to finish off Civic Platform in Kraków.”