Mitsotakis names three New Democracy candidates for 2027 Greek parliamentary elections

The candidates and their constituencies

Prime Minister and New Democracy president Kyriakos Mitsotakis has named the first three figures who will appear on the party's ballots for the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2027. The announcement was made on Thursday morning via the party's press office.

Dimitris Papastergiou, the Minister of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence, will contest the Trikala constituency. Nikos Papaioannou, the Deputy Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sport and a former rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, will stand in the Thessaloniki A district. Alexandra Sdoukou, the New Democracy press spokesperson, will run in the Athens A constituency.

Strategic signals from the selections

Party sources cited by multiple outlets describe the choices as a signal of renewal, bringing in figures who have already been tested in government and party roles. Papastergiou and Papaioannou are both extra-parliamentary ministers, meaning they serve in cabinet without currently holding a parliamentary seat. Their inclusion on the ballots is a formal step toward seeking a direct mandate from voters.

“By decision of the Prime Minister and President of New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis, it is announced that in the next parliamentary elections of 2027 the following will be included on the New Democracy ballots as candidates in the following electoral constituencies.”

The road to the ballot box

Mitsotakis has adopted rhetoric focused on a single decisive election day, telling the party's political committee that the country cannot afford to lose time or enter a dead end without a strong government. The officially stated goal is outright parliamentary majority, but government circles identify two intermediate targets: reaching 25 percent of the vote, which triggers the seat bonus under Greek electoral law, and then 30 percent, which party MPs describe as the threshold that shows whether a party remains a major force.

“The Sunday of the great choice will be one, and that single Sunday must deliver a majority.”

The announcement marks the formal start of New Democracy's electoral planning as the current government term continues.