These shocking election results left political pundits dumbfounded. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the biggest and most consequential electoral upsets from around the world that hardly anyone saw coming.
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00:00It was a bombshell so many didn't see coming.
00:03Words cannot describe how shell-shocked the Clinton campaign is right now.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the biggest and most consequential
00:14electoral upsets from around the world that hardly anyone saw coming.
00:19The man who won the war has lost the election.
00:24Number 10. Narendra Modi loses outright majority.
00:282024 Indian general election. Between April and June 2024, nearly 650 million Indians
00:35voted to elect members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.
00:39India's blockbuster prime minister is gearing up for another election.
00:44Narendra Modi is widely popular, both in India and overseas.
00:48Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a third term, entered the election holding an absolute
00:53majority with his Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, and was widely expected to win decisively.
01:00However, the BJP's occasionally divisive message alienated many voters.
01:05This discontent was leveraged by the newly formed opposition coalition,
01:09the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA.
01:13This alliance was formed just a year ago,
01:16where more than a dozen regional parties teamed up to take on Narendra Modi and the BJP.
01:21Consequently, the BJP suffered an unexpected defeat,
01:25losing its regular majority in the Lok Sabha.
01:28Although the India bloc exceeded expectations, Modi remained prime minister because his own
01:34coalition, the National Democratic Alliance, secured enough seats for a majority.
01:38Nevertheless, his influence in parliament is now considerably weakened.
01:55Number 9. Lula da Silva defeats incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
01:592022 Brazilian general election
02:02In the 2022 Brazilian election for president, voters faced a stark ideological choice.
02:07These past few weeks on the road have been noisy and relentless.
02:12Both Lula and Bolsonaro are well aware this has become a tight race.
02:16On one side, there was the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro,
02:20whose presidency was marred by mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic,
02:23widespread deforestation of the Amazon, and attacks on minorities.
02:28On the other side stood Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president who
02:33highlighted the achievements of his previous tenure and promised economic reforms.
02:38Two political foes now going head-to-head to lead Latin America's biggest nation.
02:43There's concern this race could also get violent.
02:46Although pre-election polls showed Lula leading, Bolsonaro's strongman image and
02:51significant support base suggested it was going to be a much tighter race.
02:56After two rounds of voting, Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro,
03:00marking a stunning political comeback for the former president
03:03who had once been convicted of corruption and sentenced to prison.
03:07What a comeback for Brazil's president-elect,
03:10a man who left power just 12 years ago with a sky-high approval rating, but who then
03:16subsequently fell from grace over corruption scandals. Here he is again, Lula 2.0.
03:22Number 8. Bessiru Diomay Faye Wins 2024 Senegalese Presidential Election
03:28The 2024 presidential election in Senegal was initially scheduled for February 25.
03:34However, on February 3, President Macky Sall, who was term-limited,
03:39decided to postpone it indefinitely.
03:41The announcement surprised many voters who hoped to have a say on their country's future.
03:49He has betrayed the spirit of dialogue. He has betrayed the Senegalese people.
03:53Sall's government had already imprisoned prominent opposition politicians.
03:57Like Ousmane Sanko and Bessiru Diomay Faye,
04:01raising concerns about the future of Senegal's democracy.
04:05The postponement intensified ongoing protests sparked by Sanko's imprisonment,
04:10and it was ultimately overturned.
04:12The bill that pushed back the February 25 poll
04:15had sparked protests across the country claiming the lives of three people.
04:20Just days before the rescheduled election on March 24,
04:23Sanko and Faye were released from prison and allowed to campaign.
04:28Faye ran for the presidency in place of Sanko, who was disqualified due to his conviction.
04:33Despite the brief campaign period, Faye surprisingly emerged victorious,
04:38largely supported by young voters, and became Senegal's youngest president at the age of 44.
04:43Now, Mr Clean, as he's nicknamed, has promised to get to work on some sweeping reforms.
04:49Number 7. Truman Defeats Dewey
04:521948 United States presidential election
04:55Every election cycle, voters, pundits,
04:57and politicians alike wonder just how accurate the polls are.
05:01Polling errors have always existed, but none were as shocking as those in the 1948 election.
05:06The pundits, the pollsters, they all expected a Dewey victory.
05:11Truman, who became president following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
05:14was running for his first full term.
05:17Due to a struggling economy and labor strikes, Truman had grown deeply unpopular.
05:23And it didn't help that divisions in the Democratic Party had resulted in a three-way split.
05:28Delegates who walked out of the Democratic convention formed their own party.
05:31The Southern revolt against President Truman
05:34reaches its climax at Birmingham under the state's right banner.
05:37The so-called Dixiecrats nominated the South Carolina
05:40governor Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate.
05:43All signs pointed to a loss for Truman,
05:46with polls consistently showing him several points behind Republican candidate Thomas Dewey.
05:52Some newspapers even prematurely published the headline,
05:55Dewey Defeats Truman.
05:57However, in a stunning upset, Truman won the election,
06:01with 303 electoral votes to Dewey's 189.
06:05Governor Thomas E. Dewey today conceded the presidential election to President Truman.
06:10Number six, left-wing coalition triumphs over the far right.
06:142024 French legislative election.
06:17Following the 2024 European Parliament elections,
06:20which heavily favored the far-right National Rally,
06:23French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called for snap elections.
06:29The snap election was called by President Emmanuel Macron
06:32after his party's poor showing in recent European elections.
06:36The stakes are high for Macron,
06:38as his centrist coalition could lose seats to the far-right National Rally party.
06:43Macron aimed to catch his opponents by surprise,
06:46hoping their lack of preparation would lead to a loss in the legislative election.
06:50However, after the first round of voting, his plan seemed to backfire,
06:54as the National Rally secured nearly a third of all votes.
06:58All the polls before this election have predicted
07:00they at least would become the largest party in the French Parliament.
07:04They said they were poised to govern.
07:06This initial setback triggered intense political maneuvering,
07:10resulting in over 200 left-wing and moderate candidates dropping out to avoid splitting the vote.
07:16Despite their early success,
07:18the National Rally was dealt a stunning blow in the second round,
07:22as the freshly formed leftist alliance New Popular Front ultimately won more parliamentary seats.
07:28In a shock result for all, and a huge relief for many here,
07:32the left-far-left coalition has unexpectedly become the biggest party in the French Parliament,
07:38beating the far-right.
07:40Number 5. Donald Trump Wins 2016 United States Presidential Election
07:46Going into the 2016 US presidential election,
07:49Republican candidate Donald Trump was the underdog.
07:52The man who so often hurled invective during the campaign.
07:56They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime.
07:59After all, he was up against Hillary Clinton,
08:02who had a wealth of political experience and stood to make history as the first female president.
08:08Furthermore, Trump's campaign was riddled with controversies.
08:11He made inflammatory comments about immigrants and his opponents,
08:15faced numerous accusations of sexual misconduct,
08:18and was caught on tape making lewd comments about women.
08:22That was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it.
08:26I am a person who has great respect for people, for my family, for the people of this country.
08:32And certainly I'm not proud of it.
08:34Despite all of this, and the fact that Clinton consistently led in pre-election polls,
08:40Trump clinched the win by way of the Electoral College,
08:43securing key swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
08:47This means that Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States,
08:54winning the most unreal, surreal election we have ever seen.
09:01It was one of the most stunning political upsets ever, surprising even Trump himself.
09:06Number four, conservatives win absolute majority.
09:102015 United Kingdom general election.
09:13In the lead up to the 2015 UK general election,
09:16polls didn't clearly indicate which of the two main parties would win a majority.
09:21Let's start first off with the forecast that we have at the moment.
09:26Bear in mind, these are projected seats.
09:28The general prediction was a close race between the Conservative and Labour parties,
09:33with many expecting a hung parliament.
09:35The Conservative campaign, led by then Prime Minister David Cameron,
09:40emphasized economic stability and strong leadership,
09:43contrasting this with predicted chaos under the Labour party.
09:47I've just been to see Her Majesty the Queen,
09:49and I will now form a majority Conservative government.
09:53We will govern as a party of one nation, one United Kingdom.
09:57This message resonated with voters, and the Conservatives achieved a surprising victory,
10:02winning a majority of 330 seats in parliament.
10:06Contributing factors included the unexpected collapse of the Liberal Democrats
10:11and the rise of the Scottish National Party, which further fragmented the opposition.
10:15This is, of course, an enormous moment for the SNP, and no one can deny that.
10:21The people of Scotland are speaking,
10:23and it's time for their voice to be heard at Westminster.
10:26This unexpected outcome led to the resignation of Labour leader Ed Miliband.
10:31Number three.
10:32Too close to call.
10:342000 United States presidential election.
10:37537 votes.
10:39That was all it took to decide the presidency in 2000.
10:42And I got on the phone with Bill Dilley, and he said, what's up, Mike?
10:46And I said, Billy, we haven't lost.
10:48This thing's going to be an automatic recampus.
10:51I said, this thing is too close to call.
10:52The election that year was between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush.
10:58With every other state accounted for, the results hinged on Florida,
11:02where the vote margin was razor thin.
11:04Initially, Bush had a slight lead, prompting automatic recounts.
11:09This race is simply too close to call.
11:12And until the results, the recount is concluded,
11:15and the results of Florida become official, our campaign continues.
11:20However, legal battles quickly ensued over ballot counting methods and deadlines,
11:25culminating in a Supreme Court decision that halted the recount while Bush was in the lead,
11:31effectively awarding him Florida's crucial electoral votes.
11:35The court declared that the recounts violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause
11:40because there was no uniform standard for counting all ballots.
11:44It was the first time in over a century that the candidate who lost the popular vote
11:49won the presidency.
11:50To this day, some people still dispute the results of this election.
11:54Number two, Winston Churchill loses the prime minister seat.
11:581945 United Kingdom general election.
12:01By the end of World War II in Europe,
12:03Winston Churchill was one of the most celebrated figures in the world,
12:07widely admired for his wartime leadership.
12:10Shortly after V-Day, Winston Churchill was forced to call a general election
12:14by his Labour coalition partners.
12:16It had been 10 years since the last election,
12:18and the country wanted its say.
12:20In the UK, his approval rating stood at a remarkable 83%.
12:25With such popularity, Churchill and his Conservative party
12:29felt confident of their chances in the 1945 general election.
12:33However, the electorate's focus had already shifted to post-war reconstruction.
12:39After enduring the horrors of war,
12:41the Labour government was determined it was they who should win the peace
12:45to create a new Britain.
12:46The Labour party promised sweeping social reforms,
12:49including nationalised healthcare and improved housing and employment conditions.
12:54These promises resonated with a public eager to move on from the war
12:58and led to a landslide victory for Labour.
13:01Although Labour leader Clement Attlee became prime minister,
13:04Churchill later returned to the position after the Conservatives won the 1951 election.
13:09And in 1951, at the age of 76, he is once again appointed prime minister.
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13:31Number 1. Hitler's Nazi Ideology Becomes Popular
13:351932 German Presidential Election
13:38In the 1932 German presidential election,
13:41Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party made significant inroads,
13:45achieving a remarkable breakthrough.
13:47Though he was to lose the election to President Hindenburg,
13:50Hitler had established himself as a credible alternative leader of Germany.
13:54After years on the political fringes,
13:56the Nazi party rose to become the second largest party by the 1930s,
14:00securing about 37% of the votes in this election.
14:04Although Hitler lost the presidency to independent incumbent Paul von Hindenburg,
14:09the result was shocking to many,
14:11as it brought the Nazis' radical ideology to the forefront of German politics.
14:16The Nazi party proposed little in the way of detailed policies,
14:19but it offered order, discipline, and the personality of Adolf Hitler.
14:24This democratic endorsement lent a semblance of legitimacy to their extreme platform,
14:29and positioned Hitler as a key figure in Germany.
14:32It also marked a crucial turning point in his eventual rise to power
14:36and the establishment of Nazi rule in the country.
14:39Democracy had arrived in Germany at the end of World War I.
14:43Now the majority of Germans wanted to be rid of it.
14:47In his election speeches,
14:48Hitler made no secret of the fact that a vote for the Nazis was a vote for dictatorship.
14:54Which of these election outcomes were you the most stunned by?
14:58Let us know in the comments below.
15:00Victory that feels like a defeat for Brand Mowdy.
15:03The aura of invincibility that has come to surround him has been damaged.
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