Greek election: Conservative party of PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis leads with wide margin

Official results from more than 60% of polling stations counted in Greece's election show the governing conservatives of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with a huge lead over the left-wing opposition party.

However, the new electoral law under which the vote was held means Mitsotakis will struggle to form a government without seeking a coalition partner.

With nearly two thirds of the vote counted, the left-wing opposition party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was trailing with 20% of the vote, compared to 40% for Mitsotakis' New Democracy party.

Sunday's election is Greece's first since its economy ceased being under strict supervision by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during the country's nearly decade-long financial crisis.

Tsipras, 48, served as prime minister during some of the most tumultuous years of the crisis, and has struggled to regain the wide support he enjoyed when he was swept to power in 2015 on a promise of reversing bailout-imposed austerity measures.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his conservative party led Greece's election by a wide margin Sunday, according to partial official results.

But a new electoral law means he will struggle to form a government without seeking coalition partners, and a second election is likely.

Partial results from 40% of polling stations counted showed Mitsotakis' New Democracy party with 41% of the vote, with his main rival, Alexis Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza party, trailing with 20%.

If borne out by full results, Sunday's showing would be a major disappointment for Syriza, and a better-than-expected performance for New Democracy.

Even with partial results, New Democracy was celebrating its strong showing.

(The exit polls) show a clear victory for New Democracy and a clear renewal of the mandate to continue the major changes sought by Greek society, said government spokesman Akis Skertsos.

Sunday's election is Greece's first since its economy ceased being under strict supervision by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during the country's nearly decade-long financial crisis.

Tsipras, 48, served as prime minister during some of the most tumultuous years of the crisis, and has struggled to regain the wide support he enjoyed when he swept to power in 2015 on a promise of reversing bailout-imposed austerity measures.

Mitsotakis, a 55-year-old Harvard-educated former banking executive, won 2019 elections on a promise of business-oriented reforms and has vowed to continue tax cuts, boost investments and bolster middle class employment.

But the new electoral law of proportional representation makes it difficult for any party to win an outright majority in the 300-member parliament to form a government on its own, meaning Mitsotakis will likely have to seek a coalition partner.

However, New Democracy indicated it would prefer to seek a clear win in a second election and be able to govern on its own.