A narrower-than-expected win for Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and a serious setback for Hungary’s governing Fidesz show eastern Europe’s illiberal nationalist parties are not entirely invincible, analysts and commentators have said.

“It looks like this may be a small step in the right direction – but it’s clear the opposition still has an awful lot of work to do,” said Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

Ben Stanley, a political scientist at Warsaw’s SWPS University, said Sunday’s results suggested that when opposition parties “work together and construct a positive narrative, they can convincingly take on politicians who once looked unassailable”.

Cas Mudde, a political scientist and leading populism expert at the University of Georgia, said: “In both Hungary and Poland the opposition seemed to understand the fundamental challenge to liberal democracy they were facing. Strategic collaboration is crucial, particularly when the government party is gaming the system by, for example, controlling the media.”

PiS claimed victory in Sunday’s parliamentary election, winning nearly 44% of the vote according to nearly complete results. The biggest opposition grouping, Civic Coalition (KO), scored 27.2% and the leftist alliance, the Left, 12.5%.

But the ruling party lost control of the senate after opposition parties in most districts united around joint candidates, limiting its control of the legislature for the first time in four years and making it harder for it to push new laws through fast.

It will not enjoy the free rein it has had since 2015 in the lower house either, and could well be forced to seek the backing of MPs from a new far-right group, Confederation, on more controversial policies. Read more via Guardian