Brazil election - live: World leaders congratulate Lula as he pips Bolsonaro to become president

The final result of the election is expected in the next few hours

Lula wins Brazil’s presidential election, ousting incumbent Bolsonaro

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the leftist Worker’s Party has defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a tight election to become Brazil’s next president.

With 98.8% of the votes tallied in the runoff vote — Lula had 50.8% and Bolsonaro 49.2% — the election authority said his victory was a mathematical certainty.

Mr Lula da Silva, the country’s former president from 2003-2010, has promised to restore the country’s more prosperous past but faces headwinds in a polarised society.

It is a stunning return to power for Lula, 77, whose 2018 imprisonment over a corruption scandal sidelined him from that year’s election, paving the way for Mr Bolsonaro’s win and four years of far-right politics.

His victory marks the first time since Brazil‘s 1985 return to democracy that the sitting president has failed to win reelection.

World leaders, including US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron, congratulated Mr Lula da Silva on his victory.

His inauguration is scheduled to take place on 1 January.

Key Points

• Lula defeats Bolsonaro in presidential race
• Lula promises to unite divided country
• World leaders congratulate Lula
• Lula's inauguration scheduled for 1 January
• Elections regulator denies reports of illegal roadblocks

[30 October 2022 20:47 · Joe Middleton]

Bolsonaro takes lead in initial vote count of Brazil election

Jair Bolsonaro took an early lead in the initial vote tally of Sunday’s presidential election, ahead of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose Workers Party usually gets stronger support in regions that are slower to report results.

With 5.6% of voting machines counted, Bolsonaro had 53.2% of valid votes, compared with 46.8% for Lula, the Superior Electoral Court reported on its website.

[30 October 2022 21:31 · Joe Middleton]

Vote count update

With 50.9% of the votes tallied in Brazil election, the candidates are very close with 50.3% for Bolsonaro, 49.7% for Lula.

[30 October 2022 21:58 · Joe Middleton]

Lula passes Bolsonaro in election count

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took the lead in the ongoing vote tally of Sunday’s presidential election, moving ahead of incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula had 50.01% of the vote compared with 49.99% for Bolsonaro, with 67.76% of voting machines counted, according to date published on the Supreme Electoral Court’s website.

[30 October 2022 22:29 · Joe Middleton]

Pollster predicts Lula victory

Brazilian pollster Datafolha on Sunday projected former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will win the country’s presidential election on Sunday, based on the ongoing tally of a runoff vote against incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

[30 October 2022 23:03 · Joe Middleton]

Lula defeats Bolsonaro in presidential race

Former left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won Brazil‘s bitterly-fought election on Sunday, denying hard right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro a second term.

It marks a stunning political comeback for Lula, who was jailed in 2018 for 19 months on bribery convictions that the Supreme Court overturned last year, clearing the way for him to seek a third presidential term.

[30 October 2022 23:36 · Joe Middleton]

French president Macron congratulates Lula

French president Emmanuel Macron congratulated Luis Inacio Lula da Silva for his win in Brazil‘s presidential election, adding in a Twitter post that the two leaders would “renew ties of friendship between their countries”.

[31 October 2022 03:32 · Sravasti Dasgupta]

US president Biden congratulates Lula

US president Joe Biden has congratulated Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

In a statement on Twitter, Mr Biden lauded the “free, fair, and credible elections” in Brazil and said that he looks forward to working with the new president.

[31 October 2022 04:30 · Sravasti Dasgupta]

Lula defeats Bolsonaro to complete stunning comeback as president

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the left-wing former leader of Brazil, has emerged as the winner in the country’s momentous election, defeating the hard-right president Jair Bolsonaro in one of the most stunning comebacks in international politics.

His supporters began to gather in the streets of Sao Paulo, where both the presidential campaigns were based, with loud cheers, bursts of firecrackers and hooting car horns around two hours after the polls closed at 1700 local time [2000 GMT], as reports began to appear that their man was taking a decisive lead in the popular vote in a country which spans four time zones.

Kim Sengupta reports from Sao Paulo:

[31 October 2022 05:00 · Sravasti Dasgupta]

Lula promises to unite a divided Brazil

Brazil’s new president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised to unite a divided country in a speech after defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro yesterday.

“Today the only winner is the Brazilian people,” he said in his victory speech.

“This isn’t a victory of mine or the Workers’ Party, nor the parties that supported me in campaign. It’s the victory of a democratic movement that formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies so that democracy came out victorious.”

[31 October 2022 05:30 · Sravasti Dasgupta]

Lula dedicates victory to Brazil's people

Brazil’s new president elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has dedicated his victory to the people of Brazil.

In a tweet containing a photograph of crowds, Mr Lula said: “The reason for my victory was the dedication of each of you. Who believed in freedom and in the possibility of recovering the country for the Brazilian people.”