Consensus and Beyond: Understanding the Changes in Lithuanian Politics After the 2024 Elections

The oldest political player in Lithuania, the Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won the October 2024 parliamentary election securing 19% of the vote. On the other hand, the largest party in the outgoing center-right coalition, the Homeland Union (TS–LKD) finished second with 18%.

In the latest episode of Votes & Seats, we analyze the background, the circumstances and the consequences of LSDP’s considerable victory and the significant loss of parliamentary mandates of TS–LKD, in light of the presidential, EP, and parliamentary elections of 2024.

This time, we had on board as a guest expert Dr. Mindaugas Jurkynas, professor at the Department of Regional Studies at Vytautas Magnus University who helped us understand the bigger picture about Lithuanian politics.

Should you be interested in the most relevant social cleavages in contemporary Lithuania and their effect on the country’s party system as well as on the citizens’ voting preferences, here is your best chance to quench your thirst for knowledge by listening to our most recent podcast!

• Mindaugas Jurkynas

Professor, Department of Regional Studies, Vytautas Magnus University

• Bálint L. Tóth

Podcast editor, Researcher, MCC Center for Political Science

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.