Exit polls in Poland's parliamentary elections show that the opposition Civic Platform party have won by 13 percentage points over the governing Law and Justice party, led by the Prime-Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. This report from Jonny Dymond:

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Law and Justice, under its blunt spoken leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has been heavily criticised for allegedly politicising criminal investigations, for souring Poland's relations with the outside world and for failing to push through economic reform.

Now, after just two years, it's been slung out of office. The pro-business Civic Platform promises a new start in the EU and an end to involvement in Iraq. It will need a coalition partner, however. It's thought to be just six seats short of an overall majority.

Jonny Dymond, BBC News, Warsaw

Listen to the words

record turnout
this means that the number of people who came to vote in yesterday's election was one of the largest ever

struggled
made a great effort in order to do something

ballot papers
pieces of paper on which people who take part in an election write their vote

the wait was worth it
although there was no immediate result, when it was produced, it was a positive one for the Civic Platform

blunt spoken
saying what you think without trying to be polite or caring about other people's feelings

heavily criticised for
if you are heavily criticised for something, it means people express their strong disapproval of it

souring
causing to become unfriendly, spoiling

to push through
to forcefully make something (e.g. a plan or suggestion) officially accepted and/or put into use

slung out of office
forced to abandon its position of power

short of an overall majority
not having enough seats to be the biggest parliamentary force

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