The 2023 Athens Municipal election was held on 8 October and 15 October 2023 to elect the mayor of Athens as a part of the 2023 Greek Local elections. The first round was inconclusive, and a second round run-off took place a week later, between the two candidates having the most votes, the incumbent Kostas Bakoyannis from conservative New Democracy (ND) party and Haris Doukas from social democratic PASOK party.
In the second round, PASOK candidate Haris Doukas defeated the incumbent Kostas Bakoyiannis. This victory was achieved with the unified backing of Syriza, Volt, the Pirate Party, and other green parties. As a result, Doukas secured an absolute 3/5 majority in the municipal council under the new electoral law.
Background
Previous Election In the previous election incumbent PASOK list, with its former candidate not running, was defeated by challenger Bakoyannis winning 21 out of the 49 seats, with Syriza candidate Nasos Iliopoulos coming second being defeated in the second round with ND candidate being ahead with an over 40 point margin, yet this being with the previous electoral law Bakoyannis failed to achieve a full majority in the council. Other smaller candidates also picked up seats, such as Pavlos Geroulanos of PASOK, managing to elect eight seats, Golden Dawn candidate and former spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris electing five, and communist KKE candidate Nikos Sofianos electing four, other more minor lists took up one or fewer seats each. +2019 Athens municipal election resultListSeats1st roundVote share (%)2nd roundVote share (%)Athina Psila2142.6565.25Anihti Poli816.9824.75Athina eisai Esy613.19Elliniki Avgi gia tin Athina510.53Laiki Syspirosi Athinas47.47Athina Gia tin Ellada12.21Athina kai pali Athina12.04Athina, to spiti mas11.57Antarsia Stis Geitonies tis Athinas11.54Antikapitalistiki Anatropi - Antarsia stin Athina10.99Metopo Anatropis gia tin Athina00.82 Source:"Municipal elections – May 2019"
2021 electoral system
The New Democracy government enacted "Law 4804/2021," which replaced the previous law on local elections. According to the new law, in all municipal elections in Greece, the system used is one of 2-round proportional representation with reinforced proportinality. Specifically, "the distribution of municipal or regional council seats between the successful and runner-up list is done by a system of reinforced proportionality so that the successful combination holds at least 3/5 of the council seats." Also, it also provided the requirements for a list to enter the council, "[...] in order for a list to be entitled to at least one seat on the municipal or district council, it must receive at least 3% of the valid ballots in the first round of elections. The combination that received at least 43% of the valid ballots plus one vote in the first round is declared successful, and its head is elected mayor or regional governor." The law faced backlash with parties on the threshold, including the parties conjoined in Antarsya (New Left Current (NAR), Socialist Workers' Party, Revolutionary Communist Movement of Greece (EKKE), Alternative Ecologists) calling the law undemocratic and that ND was attempting to reinforce their own position by removing simple proportionality.
Candidates
Athens NOW (Athina TORA) Athens NOW (Greek: Αθήνα ΤΩΡΑ, romanized: Athina TORA) was a municipal list formed in August 2023 based on an environmentalist, anti-tourist ideology with its candidate being PASOK member Haris Doukas. Specifically, Doukas' 5-year goals were to plant 25,000 trees throughout Athens, reduce the temperature in the summer months, reduce noise pollution, and improve the air quality of Athens by 25%. The Athens NOW list surpassed Syriza's candidate and entered the second round, whereby securing the support of Syriza, as well as the support from PASOK, Volt Greece, Pirate Party, and other small Green parties. Doukas, with unified support, defeated incumbent ND affiliate Kostas Bakoyannis and elected 26 councilors.
Athens High Up (Athina Psila) Athens High Up (Greek: Αθήνα Ψηλά, romanized: Athina Psila) was the incumbent list endorsed by the governing party New Democracy with its candidate being incumbent mayor Kostas Bakoyannis. The list of Athens High Up was defeated by the challenger, Doukas, with a 10-point difference.
Open City (Anoihti Poli)
Open City (Greek: Ανοιχτή Πόλη, romanized: Anoihti Poli) was the list endorsed by the then main opposition party Syriza, its candidate being Kostas Zachariadis who was chosen through a slim margin 17–15 in the political secretary, with other options being basketballer Nikos Pappas. Zachariadis was eliminated in the first round of voting, receiving approximately 13% of the vote. In the second round, Zachariadis endorsed Doukas and his list.
Popular Athenian Coalition (Laiki Syspeirosi Athinas) Popular Athenian Coalition (Greek: Λαϊκή Συσπείρωση Αθήνας, romanized: Laiki Syspeirosi Athinas) was the list endorsed by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) with their candidate Nikolaos Sofianos. The list saw a rise parallel to the one that their party saw in the May and June 2023 parliamentary elections.
Free Athenians (Eleftheroi Athineoi) Free Athenians (Greek: Ελεύθεροι Αθηναίοι, romanized: Eleftheroi Athineoi) was the list endorsed by National Party – Greeks and the Spartiates party, and used to be endorsed by the now illegal Golden Dawn party. It was led by Ilias Kasidiaris, a convicted felon. The list managed to elect two councilors, including Kasidiaris.
Subversive Alliance for Athens (Anatreptiki Symmahia gia tin Athina) Subversive alliance for Athens (Greek: Ανατρεπτική Συμμαχία για την Αθήνα, romanized: Anatreptiki Symmahia gia tin Athina) was a list of a coalition of Far-Left Groups that united when ND enacted a new election law that made it mandatory for a list to reach at least 3% to elect a councilor. Uniting behind the lawyer of the Golden Dawn trials Kostas Papadakis, the group was backed by Antarsya and MeRA25. The group reached 6% in the election, electing Kostas Papadakis as its Councilor.
Our Athens (I Athina Mas) Our Athens (Greek: Η Αθήνα Μας, romanized: I Athina Mas) was the only independent list in the elections with their candidate being Eleni Papadopoulou, the list's beliefs tend to be in line with more right-wing thought with their candidate criticizing pride parades and illegal immigration. The list elected its candidate as councilor with almost 4% of the vote.
Opinion polls Fieldwork Date Polling firm Doukas Bakoyiannis Zachariadis Sofianos Kasidiaris Papadakis Papadopoulou Abstain Undecided Lead15 OctSecond Round Results55.97 44.03 11.9413 OctRealpolls46.435.5 –8.79.4 –10.98 OctFirst Round Results14.1941.35 13.35 12.88 8.336.09 3.80 27.16 6 Oct Realpolls12.126.310.59.18.46.43.642.916.714.232.331.4 –25.910.4 –0.9 –35.229.8 –26.18.8 –5.43 OctProrata93814.58.58.5 –15.55.4 Results
Members Elected Members Elected to Municipal Council List Full nameAthens NOWHaris DoukasRoxani-Evangelia Bei-KarampotsouGeorgios Apostolopoulos Ioanna (Tzini) Gennimata Maria Stratigaki Olga Dourou Christina Vasileiou Kalliopi (Popi) Giannopoulou Zacharoula Agrogianni – Moukriotou Nikolaos Laliotis Athanasios Cheimonas Georgios-Konstantinos Giannaros Artemis Skoumpourdi Eleni Zontirou Vasiliki Barka Maro Evangelidou Nikos Chrysogelos Dimitra Sideri Thomas Georgiadis Evangelos Giannopoulos Mina Fountzoula Panagiotis – Paris Charlaftis Elena Mantzavinou Andreas Grammatikogiannis Manolis Velegrakis Despoina Limniotaki Athens High UpKostas BakoyannisNikolaos Avramidis Christos Tentomas Manolis Kalampokas Alexia Evert AlvertiGeorgios VoulgarakisKaterina Gkagkaki Dimitriadou Sakis Kollatos Open CityKostas ZachariadisDespoina Alevyzaki Diana Voutyrakou Popular Athenian CoalitionNikolaos SofianosCharis Vourdoumpas Free AtheniansIlias KasidiarisGianna Betty Subversive Alliance for AthensKostas PapadakisOur AthensPapadopoulou Eleni Source:
Community Results All seven Municipal Communities were won by Kostas Bakoyannis in the first round (see tables below). However, Haris Doukas won a 3/5 majority due to his victory in the second round, with all other lists getting either one or no seats in every Community Council, based on the new electoral law in all individual councils.
First Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now93,48518.99,43951.9Athens High Up37,25939.57,03748.1Open City12,31012.5Popular Athenian Coalition11,90110.3Subversive Alliance for Athens11,5338.3Free Athenians01,2096.5Our Athens06643.6
Second Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now93,54814.99,98556.7Athens High Up39,92541.77,61343.3Open City13,25213.6Popular Athenian Coalition13,07312.9Free Athenians11,8497.7Subversive Alliance for Athens01,3055.4Our Athens08473.5
Third Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now71,47111.15,84356.1Athens High Up25,63442.64,67843.9Open City11,90414.4Popular Athenian Coalition11,80113.6Free Athenians01,1518.7Subversive Alliance for Athens07805.9Our Athens04703.5
Fourth Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now92,06311.67,79553.0Athens High Up37,67143.46,93047.0Popular Athenian Coalition12,42113.7Open City12,16012.2Free Athenians11,91910.8Subversive Alliance for Athens07904.4Our Athens06203.5
Fifth Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now92,62013.29,56056.2Athens High Up28,13941.17,44743.8Popular Athenian Coalition12,81114.2Open City12,68813.5Free Athenians01,6648.4Subversive Alliance for Athens01,0765.4Our Athens07913.9
Sixth Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now92,94913.78,02155.2Athens High Up28,72240.66,50344.8Open City12,90313.5Popular Athenian Coalition12,63212.2Free Athenians12,0069.3Subversive Alliance for Athens01,3016.0Our Athens09624.4
Seventh Municipal Community ListSeats1st Round2nd RoundVote share%Vote share%Athens Now93,68814.47,35653.6Athens High Up210,45240.96,36846.4Open City13,45113.5Popular Athenian Coalition13,36313.1Free Athenians11,8457.2Subversive Alliance for Athens01,7306.7Our Athens09753.8 Source:"ΠΙΝΑΚΑΣ ΑΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΜΑΤΩΝ ΤΗΣ ΨΗΦΟΦΟΡΙΑΣ ΔΗΜΟΤΙΚΩΝ ΕΚΛΟΓΩΝ ΤΗΣ 15ης Οκτωβρίου 2023 Αριθμός ψηφοδελτίων συνδυασμών"(PDF) Athens Court of the First Instance October 2023 Retrieved March 2025
Note: The results of the second round are not stated for each Community, but they are stated for every polling place. This may be because the seats are distributed independently of how the community voted in the second round and distributed according to the results of the first round and the overall victor of the second round."Πίνακας αποτελεσμάτων της ψηφοφορίας δημοτικών εκλογών της 15ης Οκτωβρίου 2023 Αριθμός ψηφοδελτίων συνδυασμών" (PDF) Athens Court of the First Instance October 2023 Retrieved 2 February 2025.
Aftermath
Reactions After the election results, PASOK, having supported Doukas' ecologist list, asserted itself as the second most popular political party nationwide in the local elections. Syriza also congratulated Doukas, as their leader Stefanos Kasselakis endorsed him in the second round. The victory of Doukas attracted nationwide press and media attention. Doukas was the second most popular candidate in the elections in October 2024 for the leadership of PASOK, receiving 40.08%.
Post-Election proposed reforms