# 2022 Latvian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 1 October 2022 to elect the Fourteenth Saeima of Latvia, following the end of the term of the 13th Saeima elected in 2018.
Incumbent Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš led his New Unity party and allies to a decisive win in the election which was seen as a decisive victory for pro-Western parties in the country. Karinš went on to form the Second Kariņš cabinet with National Alliance and United List.

## Electoral system

The 100 members of the Saeima are elected by open list, proportional representation from five multi-member constituencies ranging in size from 12 to 36 seats and based on the regions of Latvia, with overseas votes included in the Riga constituency. Seats are allocated using the Sainte-Laguë method with a national electoral threshold of 5%. Voters may cast "specific votes" for candidates on the list that they have voted for. This involves drawing a plus sign (+) next to the candidate's names to indicate preference (positive votes), or by crossing out names to indicate disapproval (negative votes). The number of votes for each candidate is the number of votes cast for the list, plus their number of positive votes, minus their number of negative votes. The candidates with the highest vote totals fill their party's seats.

### Seat redistribution

The Central Electoral Commission is required to determine the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) to be elected using the number of eligible voters four months before the election. On 2 June 2022, the Central Electoral Commission has announced the new distribution of MPs. Rīga and Vidzeme constituencies have both gained one seat compared to the 2018 election, while Latgale and Zemgale constituencies have both lost one.
June 2022 redistribution :
| Constituency | Seats | Change |
| Rīga | 36 | 1 |
| Vidzeme | 26 | 1 |
| Latgale | 13 | 1 |
| Zemgale | 13 | 1 |
| Kurzeme | 12 | |
| Total | 100 | |

## Parties
### Lead candidates

Latvia First became the first major party to announce Ainārs Šlesers as its candidate for the position of Prime Minister on 14 August, during the founding congress of the party.
Each of the member parties of the Union of Greens and Farmers proposed their own PM candidate to the party alliance board, and then they would decide on the one candidate for the whole party alliance. The Latvian Farmers' Union nominated MP Viktors Valainis as their candidate, while the Green Party kept its candidate secret. In the end, the Greens left the Union and joined the United List alliance.

### Overview

The table below lists parties and party alliances represented in the 13th Saeima.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | PM candidate | Leader(s) | 2018 result | 2018 result | Seats at dissolution |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | PM candidate | Leader(s) | Votes (%) | Seats | Seats at dissolution |
| | S | Harmony Saskaņa | Social democracy Russian minority politics | Ivars Zariņš | Jānis Urbanovičs | 19.8% | 23 / 100 | 18 / 100 |
| | K | The Conservatives Konservatīvie | Liberal conservatism | Jānis Bordāns | Jānis Bordāns | 13.6% | 16 / 100 | 15 / 100 |
| | AP! | Development/For! Attīstībai/Par! | Liberalism | Artis Pabriks | Daniels Pavļuts Artūrs Toms Plešs | 12.0% | 13 / 100 | 14 / 100 |
| | NA | National Alliance Nacionālā apvienība | National conservatism Right-wing populism | Uģis Mitrevics | Raivis Dzintars | 11.0% | 13 / 100 | 13 / 100 |
| | JV | New Unity Jaunā Vienotība | Liberal conservatism | Krišjānis Kariņš | Krišjānis Kariņš | 6.7% | 8 / 100 | 11 / 100 |
| | ZZS | Union of Greens and Farmers Zaļo un zemnieku savienība | Agrarianism Conservatism | Aivars Lembergs | Armands Krauze | 9.9% | 11 / 100 | 7 / 100 |
| | AS | United List Apvienotais saraksts | Regionalism Green conservatism | Uldis Pīlēns | Edgars Tavars Edvards Smiltēns | did not exist | did not exist | 4 / 100 |
| | R | Republic Republika | Centrism | Sandis Ģirģens | Sandis Ģirģens | did not exist | did not exist | 2 / 100 |
| | KuK | For Each and Every One Katram un katrai | Right-wing populism | Aldis Gobzems | Aldis Gobzems | did not exist | did not exist | 2 / 100 |
| | LPV | Latvia First Latvija pirmajā vietā | Social conservatism | Ainārs Šlesers | Ainārs Šlesers | did not exist | did not exist | 2 / 100 |
| | SV | Sovereign Power Suverēnā vara | Christian right | TBD | Jūlija Stepaņenko | did not exist | did not exist | 2 / 100 |
| | PCL | For a Humane Latvia Par cilvēcīgu Latviju | Right-wing populism Conservatism | TBD | Jurģis Miezainis | 14.3% | 16 / 100 | 1 / 100 |

### Competing parties

Political parties and party alliances are able to submit their electoral lists to the Central Electoral Commission from 13 July until 2 August. So far, four lists have been submitted to and registered by the CEC.
In the table below, the number in each box indicates the number of candidates standing on the party's electoral list in the indicated constituency. The maximum number of candidates on the electoral list in each constituency equals the number of MPs to be elected plus three.
| Party | Party | Ideology | Ideology | PM candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Date submitted | Source |
| Party | Party | Ideology | Ideology | PM candidate | Rīga | Vidzeme | Latgale | Kurzeme | Zemgale | Total | Date submitted | Source |
| | Development/For! (AP!) | Liberalism | Centre to centre-right | A. Pabriks & M. Golubeva | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 13 July | |
| | For Stability! (S!) | Populism | Centre | Aleksejs Rosļikovs | 30 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 65 | 13 July | |
| | Social Democratic Party "Harmony" (S) Socialist Party of Latvia | Social democracy | Centre-left | Ivars Zariņš | 30 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 87 | 18 July | |
| | The Progressives (P) | Social democracy | Centre-left | Kaspars Briškens | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 20 July | |
| | New Unity (JV) | Liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Krišjānis Kariņš | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 25 July | |
| | Latvia First (LPV) Honor to Serve Riga | Right-wing populism | Right-wing | Ainārs Šlesers | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 25 July | |
| | United List (AS) | Regionalism | Centre to centre-right | Uldis Pīlēns | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 26 July | |
| | National Alliance (NA) | National conservatism | Right-wing | Uģis Mitrevics | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 26 July | |
| | Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) | Agrarianism | Centre | Aivars Lembergs | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 27 July | |
| | For Each and Every One (KuK) | Social conservatism | Right-wing | Aldis Gobzems | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 27 July | |
| | Latvian Russian Union (LKS) | Russian minority politics | Centre | Miroslavs Mitrofanovs | 38 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 102 | 29 July | |
| | Republic (R) | Centrism | Centre | Sandis Ģirģens | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 29 July | |
| | The Conservatives (K) | Liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Jānis Bordāns | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | 29 July | |
| | Sovereign Power (SV) | Christian right | Right-wing | Jūlija Stepaņenko | 39 | 24 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 100 | 1 August | |
| | Force of People's Power (TVS) | Conspiracism | Far-right | Valentīns Jeremejevs | 39 | 28 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 114 | 1 August | |
| | People's Servants for Latvia (TKL) | Populism | Centre | Edgars Kramiņš | 34 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 82 | 1 August | |
| | Union for Latvia (AL) Heritage of the Fatherland | Right-wing populism | Right-wing | Māris Možvillo | 28 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 73 | 2 August | |
| | Progressive Christian Party (KPP) | Christian democracy | Centre-right | Andrejs Krasņikovs | 12 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 31 | 2 August | |
| | United for Latvia (VL) | Populism | Centre-right | TBD | 10 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 2 August | |
| Maximum candidates | Maximum candidates | Maximum candidates | Maximum candidates | Maximum candidates | 39 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 115 | | |

## Members of the Saeima not standing for re-election

List of MPs who announced they will not stand for re-election in 2022 :
| MP | Constituency | First elected | Party | Date announced |
| Mārtiņš Bondars | Latgale | 2014 | AP! | 31 May 2022 |
| Inga Goldberga | Latgale | 2018 | S | 6 June 2022 |
| Inguna Rībena | Zemgale | 2002 | Ind. | 14 June 2022 |
| Reinis Znotiņš | Rīga | 2018 | K | 7 July 2022 |
| Vladimirs Nikonovs | Latgale | 2010 | S | 18 July 2022 |
| Dagmāra Beitnere-Le Galla | Vidzeme | 2018 | K | 21 July 2022 |
| Atis Lejiņš | Zemgale | 2010 | JV | 25 July 2022 |
| Janīna Jalinska | Latgale | 2018 | AS | 26 July 2022 |
| Ivars Puga | Rīga | 2018 | NA | 26 July 2022 |
| Jānis Dūklavs | Latgale | 2010 | ZZS | 27 July 2022 |

## Results

The New Unity party of incumbent prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš received the highest percentage of the vote (19%) and won the most seats (26). In a speech after the election, Kariņš stated that Latvia would continue to support Ukraine against Russia and he stated his preference to maintain the current coalition government. The Union of Greens and Farmers placed second, receiving 13% of the vote, despite leader Aivars Lembergs being sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 and under sanction by the United States. The other parties which placed above the 5% threshold to receive a seat in parliament were the United List with 11%, the National Alliance with 9.3%, For Stability! with 7%, Latvia First with 6%, and The Progressives, who entered parliament for the first time with 6% of the vote.
The wasted vote in this election was 29.09%. Harmony, who had placed first in the previous three general elections, was unable to secure any parliamentary seats, being slightly under the 5% threshold (of all votes, including invalid) with 4.9% of the vote. This has been attributed by many reasons, including internal disputes on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, pushing away both ethnic Latvians and ethnic Russians. This resulted in much of the ethnic Russian population voting for Stability!, Sovereign Power, and the Latvian Russian Union. The Development/For! alliance, one of the coalition members, also narrowly missed out the 5% threshold by just 0.03% (with 4.97% of all votes). Another coalition member, the Conservatives, also failed to cross the 5% threshold, receiving 3% of the vote.
| | New Unity | 173,425 | 19.19 | 26 | +18 |
| | Union of Greens and Farmers | 113,676 | 12.58 | 16 | +5 |
| | United List | 100,631 | 11.14 | 15 | New |
| | National Alliance | 84,939 | 9.40 | 13 | 0 |
| | For Stability! | 62,168 | 6.88 | 11 | New |
| | Latvia First | 57,033 | 6.31 | 9 | New |
| | The Progressives | 56,327 | 6.23 | 10 | +10 |
| | Development/For! | 45,452 | 5.03 | 0 | –13 |
| | Harmony | 43,943 | 4.86 | 0 | –23 |
| | For Each and Every One | 33,578 | 3.72 | 0 | New |
| | Latvian Russian Union | 33,203 | 3.67 | 0 | 0 |
| | Sovereign Power | 29,603 | 3.28 | 0 | New |
| | The Conservatives | 28,270 | 3.13 | 0 | –16 |
| | Republic | 16,088 | 1.78 | 0 | New |
| | Force of People's Power | 10,350 | 1.15 | 0 | New |
| | People's Servants for Latvia | 9,176 | 1.02 | 0 | 0 |
| | Union for Latvia | 2,985 | 0.33 | 0 | –16 |
| | United for Latvia | 1,413 | 0.16 | 0 | New |
| | Progressive Christian Party | 1,379 | 0.15 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 903,639 | 100.00 | 100 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 903,639 | 98.61 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 12,729 | 1.39 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 916,368 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 1,542,407 | 59.41 | | |
| Source: Central Electoral Commission ||||||

### By constituency

| Constituency | JV | ZZS | AS | NA | S! | LPV | P |
| Riga | 20.59 | 5.51 | 6.91 | 7.14 | 9.15 | 8.59 | 9.05 |
| Vidzeme | 23.46 | 12.10 | 12.62 | 11.39 | 3.04 | 5.14 | 5.95 |
| Latgale | 6.97 | 14.54 | 5.12 | 5.78 | 18.56 | 6.53 | 2.46 |
| Zemgale | 18.75 | 19.55 | 12.42 | 12.16 | 3.02 | 4.56 | 4.35 |
| Kurzeme | 16.44 | 21.10 | 22.05 | 10.25 | 2.17 | 4.27 | 4.80 |
| Total | 19.16 | 12.66 | 11.00 | 9.38 | 6.91 | 6.31 | 6.23 |

### Seat distribution

| Constituency | JV | ZZS | AS | NA | S! | LPV | P | Total |
| Riga | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Vidzeme | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| Latgale | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Zemgale | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Kurzeme | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Total | 26 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 100 |

## Aftermath

On 3 October 2022, President Egils Levits authorized Kariņš, the incumbent Prime Minister and leader of New Unity, to form a coalition government. New Unity explored coalition options with Union of Greens and Farmers and the Progressives, but they fell though. Kariņš formed a government with United List and National Alliance, sworn in on 14 December. This government lasted until proposed changes to the make-up of cabinet caused the other parties to pull out and led to Kariņš's resignation as Prime Minister in August 2023. The government was succeeded by a New Unity–Union of Greens and Farmers–Progressives government led by Evika Siliņa, which was sworn in on 14 September 2023.