Leftwing opposition leader who was PM during eurozone crisis says party needs ‘profound renewal’

Alexis Tsipras, the former student activist who rose to become Greece’s first radical leftwing prime minister, has resigned as leader of Syriza four days after the party’s crushing defeat in general elections.

Eight years after taking Europe by storm, Tsipras said he was stepping down to make way for a new leader who could oversee Syriza’s “profound renewal”.

Incumbent prime minister Alexis Tsipras, of Syriza, calls rival Kyriakos Mitsotakis to concede defeat

Voters in Greece have given Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right New Democracy party a resounding mandate to form a new government after it won by a landslide over the incumbent leftwing Syriza party, which has been in power since 2015.

As the outcome of Sunday’s general election became clear, the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, conceded defeat, calling Mitsotakis to congratulate him on his victory. The official handover of power will take place on Monday.

In Syntagma Square, all the way from the grubby marble stairs opposite the Greek parliament down to the bottom of the plaza, people have gathered. Some are holding flags – the red, white and purple flags of Syriza, the once-radical leftist party whose leader they have come to hear.

Hip-hop thunders from giant speakers. The air is heavy and hot. An expectant crowd has been kept waiting for over an hour in temperatures turbocharged by massive spotlights. By the time Alexis Tsipras appears, many are sweating profusely. Still they roar their approval. The countdown has begun.

Centrist Kostas Bakoyannis says his approach transcends divisions that have long defined Greece

The mayor-elect of Athens says he doesn’t believe in grand projects, nor does he “do utopias”. What he prefers to focus on is “real life” – and seeing it by walking and talking with almost everyone he meets.

It has paid off. After visiting 129 neighbourhoods across Athens since launching his campaign to become the capital’s youngest mayor, Kostas Bakoyannis, at 41, has been catapulted to the top office of City Hall with the widest margin of victory ever. With him comes a team of councillors that will be among the most politically diverse on record.