Greece’s Ruling Conservatives Win Vote But Fall Short of Majority

Greek Prime Minister and New Democracy conservative party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis waves outside the party's headquarters, after the general election, in Athens, Greece, on May 21, 2023. Louiza Vradi/Reuters

ATHENS—Greece’s ruling New Democracy party stormed to a crushing victory in a parliamentary election on May 21 but fell just short of the threshold needed to form a government on its own, making a runoff election in a month more likely.

With most votes counted, conservative New Democracy took a commanding lead with 40.8 percent of the vote, trouncing the radical leftist Syriza, which governed from 2015 to 2019, which polled at 20.1 percent.