Poland lurches to right with election of Law and Justice party

Exit poll points to Beata SzydAo becoming the country's next prime minister as ruling party concedes defeat

Poland consolidated its rightwing shift on Sunday as exit polls showed voters had handed an absolute majority in its parliamentary election to Law and Justice, a Eurosceptic party that is against immigration, wants family-focused welfare spending and has threatened to ban abortion and in-vitro fertilisation.

The current ruling party, Civic Platform, conceded defeat following the first exit poll, published by Ipsos moments after polling stations closed at 9pm (8pm GMT), which gave the national conservative Prawo i SprawiedliwoAA (Law and Justice party) 39.1% of the vote, putting it far ahead of Civic Platform on 23.4%.

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