In public opinion, the most important attribute of the ideal candidate in local government elections is honesty. Poles almost universally (95%) believe that it is very important that a candidate for commune leader or mayor should be an honest and incorruptible person. Secondly, the ideal candidate is a person who knows and understands the problems of ordinary people: 85% of Poles consider this feature to be very important. A slightly smaller percentage of respondents (83%) expect the ideal candidate to have appropriate competences and qualifications.

There is less agreement about other attributes of the ideal city or commune leader. For most respondents, it is relatively important that the mayor or commune head should be a person from outside of the existing cliques and should also be a representative of minorities. However, party affiliations or lack thereof are rather unimportant.

In your opinion, what should the ideal candidate for mayor or commune leader be like? Is it important for you personally that this person should be …