Abstract
<jats:p>KRAKOW RESIDENTS’ ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR 1989-2024 The text presents the unique characteristics of the electoral behaviour of Krakow’s residents compared to other large Polish cities, and the degree of its internal diversity – at the level of districts, neighbourhoods and housing estates. Presidential, parliamentary, local and regional elections at the city level held in 1990-2024 were analysed. Krakow is one of Poland’s cities with a clearly right-wing profile, a low level of support for anti-communist groups in the 1990s and a moderate liberal leaning after 2005. It also has a mayor with the longest tenure in office – of all the studied large cities – who built his position by competing against candidates of the two strongest political parties: the Civic Platform and Law and Justice. At the same time, he did not have his own club that would enjoy a majority in the Krakow City Council. The end of the twenty years of Jacek Majchrowski in the office of mayor started a period of new divisions in Krakow’s local government. Krakow is unique when it comes to its internal diversity. It is different from other large cities. The main factors contributing to this diversity is the different behaviour of the residents of the former villages incorporated into the city in the 20th century and of the majority of the electoral districts of Nowa Huta, especially the Mistrzejowice and Bieńczyce housing estates. In the latter, Law and Justice has obtained better results in the last two decades, with KPN, NSZZ Solidarność, and AWS being key players in earlier periods. What is interesting is the permanently higher level of support for liberal parties, and most recently also for the left-wing parties in the Krowodrza housing estate.</jats:p>