Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’ United List (Apvienotais saraksts) has won the October 3 election with 35.3 per cent of the vote and 41 of the 100 seats in the Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, after the Central Election Commission finished counting postal ballots on October 5. That is the strongest result for any single list since the restoration of independence in 1991.
Latvian Way’s 36 seats in 1993 had been the previous high. Turnout was 51.8 per cent.
United List sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), which it joined in 2024. It is represented in the European Parliament by Reinis Pozņaks.
The ECR’s other Latvian member, the National Alliance, took 8.9 per cent and 10 seats, broadly holding its 2022 vote share of 9.3 per cent, though it lost three seats.
Together the two ECR lists have a bare majority, 51 seats, before any other partner is added.
The ECR group congratulated both parties, describing the United List score as a “historic result” and the National Alliance performance as solid.
The Patriots for Europe also gained. Latvia First (Latvija pirmajā vietā), led by Ainārs Šlesers and aligned with the Patriots, finished second on 13.1 per cent and 17 seats, up eight on the last parliament. It holds one of Latvia’s nine European Parliament seats.
Šlesers, a property developer often compared in the foreign press to Donald Trump, campaigned against further restrictions on trade with Russia. He has argued since 2024 that a negotiated settlement in Ukraine, even on poor terms, would be preferable to a continuation of the war.
Kulbergs said on election night that he did not want Latvia First in government. He said talks would open first with his existing coalition partners, New Unity and the National Alliance.
He has stated that any economic ties with Russia constitute a vulnerability that Moscow could exploit. His government declaration in May listed measures to weaken and isolate Russia among its priorities, and he has pressed the EU to halt trade with Moscow.
Military aid to Ukraine is budgeted at roughly 0.25 per cent of GDP for 2026, continuing a programme that has included equipment transfers, training for Ukrainian soldiers, contributions to the Drone Coalition and purchases from the domestic defence industry.
Support reached 0.3 per cent of GDP in 2025, and €50 million is set aside this year for drones bought from Latvian makers.
Between 2022 and 2025, Latvian military assistance totalled approximately €665 million. Latvia has also offered to train up to 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers and, in June, agreed with Kyiv to open a joint drone plant in Latgale, on the Russian and Belarusian borders.
Third was the new Sovereign Power/Young Latvians alliance, on 11.7 per cent and 15 seats, led by Jūlija Stepaņenko.
It opposed further military aid to Ukraine and higher defence spending, and drew heavily on the Russian-speaking minority, about a third of the electorate. It has no settled European Parliament group.
Stability!, which won 11 seats in 2022 on a similar share of the vote, fell to 2 per cent and lost its representation. Harmony took 0.8 per cent.
The old governing centre was the loser.
New Unity, the European People’s Party affiliate of former prime minister Evika Siliņa, fell to 6.3 per cent and seven seats, down 19.
Siliņa resigned on May 14 and President Edgars Rinkēvičs asked Kulbergs to form a government for the months left before the election, which parliament confirmed on May 28 by 66 votes.
The Union of Greens and Farmers dropped below the 5 per cent threshold for the first time, on 4.4 per cent, and is out. It had 16 seats and sat in the outgoing coalition.
The left-liberal Progressives held 10 seats on 7.9 per cent.
Kulbergs, a former telecoms and automotive manager who became prime minister only in May, can therefore rebuild a pro-Ukraine coalition without the farmers and without Latvia First.
United List, the National Alliance and New Unity would have about 58 seats. United List and the National Alliance alone would have a majority of one.
He has said he wants to keep defence spending at 5 per cent of GDP and military aid to Kyiv. Latvia agreed in 2025 to move towards that level, in line with the target NATO allies set the same year.
Latvia, 88% of polling stations counted:
Seat projection national parliament
AS-ECR: 41 (+26)
LPV-PfE: 17 (+8)
SV/AJ-*: 15 (new)
NA-ECR: 11 (-2)
P-G/EFA: 9 (-1)
JV-EPP: 7 (-19)
ZZS~RE|~S&D: 0 (-16)
ST!→NI: 0 (-11)+/- vs.
➤ https://t.co/UCfd3rHFBF pic.twitter.com/istKbevib4
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) October 4, 2026
