Before last Sunday’s local and regional elections, commentators’ attention was focused on whether the ruling party Nea Dimokratia would be able to maintain the substantial majority which it had achieved in the national elections, or whether “election fatigue” might contribute to a reduced turnout, to ND’s disadvantage. The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated his ambition to “turn the country blue” and achieve a dominance of ND-supported candidates in all 13 Regions and the three major municipalities of Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras. At the same time the opposition parties were hoping either to consolidate gains made or to recoup losses incurred in the national elections.

The new SYRIZA leader
Of particular interest was whether the election of a new leader for SYRIZA – the official opposition – would help to turn around the party’s fortunes. Stefanos Kasselakis, a Greek American with roots in Chania, appeared like a shooting star on the political horizon only weeks before the leadership election on 17^th September and took nearly 45 per cent of the votes in the first round, beating runner-up Effie Achtsioglou by 56 per cent to 44 per cent in the second round a week later. Although he had received the backing of party veterans such as former Communications minister Nikos Pappas and former Defence minister Evangelos Apostolakis, his success against others with solid left-wing credentials seems hard to explain. The latter included the former Labour minister Effie Achtsioglou – the favourite before his appearance on the scene – and Eukleidis Tsakalotos, SYRIZA’s Finance minister who ably steered the country through its thorny relationship with the EU following the resignation of Giannis Varoufakis.

Mr Kasselakis by contrast had no political background and no demonstrable left-wing affiliations. A former investment bank employee who had started his own shipping company, he seemed to have no specific policies, apart from a vaguely expressed optimism and the assertion that he “could beat Kyriakos Mitsotakis”.

The election results
In the event, with SYRIZA’s new leader not having had time to formulate policies or even appoint a shadow cabinet, it is not surprising that the impact on the election results was minimal. Although the turnout was marginally reduced (52.53% against 53.74% in the national elections), the result overwhelmingly favoured Nea Dimokratia and was in general a wholehearted demonstration of support for the status quo.

Regional elections
Seven out of 13 Regional Governors were elected in the first round – those for Attica, Central Macedonia, Western Greece, Epirus, South Aegean, Central Greece and Crete. Six out of the seven were incumbents, and all were candidates supported by Nea Dimokratia. The Regional Governor for Attica, former deputy Defence minister Nikos Hardalias, was elected for the first time with a majority of 46.74 per cent. The Regional Governor for Crete, supported by both PASOK and Nea Dimokratia, was reelected for a fourth term with a majority of 78.1 per cent. In the remaining six regions – Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, North Aegean, Western Macedonia, Thessaly, Ionian Islands and Peloponnese – there will be a run-off vote this coming Sunday. The leading candidates are predominantly those supported by Nea Dimokratia.

Municipal elections
In the local elections, the ruling party made a good showing in three main municipalities targeted by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, but all will go to a run-off vote on Sunday 15^th October. The competing candidates, with their political affiliations and first-round percentages are:
Central Athens: *Kostas Bakogiannis (ND, 41.35%) vs Haris Doukas (PASOK, 14.19%)
Thessaloniki: *Konstantinos Zervas (ND, 27.33%) vs Stylianos Angeloudis (Independent, 25.74%)
Patras: *Konstantinos Pelletidis (KKE, 39.95%) vs Kostas Svolis (ND, 25.57%)
An asterisk denotes the incumbent in each case.

The Region of Crete
Crete is coloured green, denoting domination by PASOK, on the official map of the Regional results, although the reelected Governor, Stavros Arnautakis, is supported by ND as well as PASOK. In the municipal elections the nationwide pattern of wins by the incumbent was repeated. In two of the three main cities the incumbent mayor was reelected, the results being as follows:
Heraklion: Alexios Kalokairinos (Independent, 47.15%)
Rethymnon: *Georgios Marinakis (PASOK, 66.31%)
Chania: *Panagiotis Simandirakis (PASOK, 65.79%)
Vasilis Lambrinos, who was elected Mayor of Heraklion in 2014 and again in 2019, did not stand, no doubt on account of his age (he was born in 1946).

The Regional Unit of Chania
In the Regional Unit of Chania, the incumbents had almost a clean sweep, with all the winning candidates elected in the first round. In the Municipality of Chania, the SYRIZA-supported runner-up Katerina Manimanaki, whom we mentioned in an earlier post, achieved 21.86% against Panagiotis Simandirakis, who was voted in for a second term with 65.79 per cent. In the other six municipalities, the results were as follows:
Apokoronas: *Haralambos Koukianakis (47.02%)
Platanias: *Giannis Malandrakis (56.68%)
Kissamos: *Giorgios Mylonakis (47.57%)
Kandanos-Selinos: *Antonios Perrakis (60.66%)
Sfakia: Giannis Zervos (53.39%)
Gavdos: *Lilian Stefanaki (59.03%)
Although not the incumbent, Giannis Zervos was mayor of Sfakia for the period 2014-19.

Those wishing to study the results in more detail can find them at the website of the ministry of the Interior at:
https://ekloges.ypes.gr/current/p/home/en/ for the Regional elections, and
https://ekloges.ypes.gr/current/d/home/en/ for the municipal elections.