Image source, Piotr Nowak/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Image caption,

Donald Tusk was greeted as if at a victory rally in Warsaw on Sunday night

By Sarah Rainsford and Adam Easton in Warsaw & Paul Kirby in London

BBC News

The right-wing populist Law and Justice party is on course to win most seats in Poland's general election, an exit poll suggests, but will struggle to secure a third term in office.

Known as PiS, it is set to win 36.8% of the vote, with the centrist opposition on 31.6%, says the Ipsos poll.

But if it is correct, Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition has a greater chance of forming a coalition.

He is aiming to end eight years of PiS rule under leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The PiS leader admitted he did not know if the party's "success will be able to be turned into another term in power".

"Poland won, democracy has won," Mr Tusk, 66, told a large crowd of jubilant supporters in what felt like a victory rally in Warsaw. "This is the end of the bad times, this is the end of the ruling party, PiS."

There were roars as the exit poll flashed up on the screen and Mr Tusk appeared to loud cheers and chants of his name.

Supporters appeared stunned by the exit poll, and election officials said later that turnout was probably 72.9%, the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.