The result in Montevideo follows a trend of victories for anti-incumbency candidates in Latin America, and a regional leftward turn.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguayans will return to the polls on Sunday for a second round of voting to choose their next president, with the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month's vote.

The candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed for the past five years conceded defeat after a tight runoff, as Uruguay joined others around the world in rebuking the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Uruguay's leftist opposition candidate, Yamandú Orsi, claimed victory in a tight presidential runoff Sunday, ousting the conservative governing coalition and making the South American nation the latest to rebuke the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Centre-left candidate Yamandu Orsi wins Uruguay's presidential election with 49.77%, defeating conservative Álvaro Delgado. His victory signals a shift in Uruguay’s political landscape.

Mr. Delgado’s concession signaled an end to the short stint of the right-leaning government in Uruguay that in 2020, when President Luis Lacalle Pou took office, ended 15 years of government by the Broad Front. During that period, the Broad Front oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana.

A left-wing former history teacher, Yamandú Orsi, has won the presidential election in Uruguay. Orsi beat Álvaro Delgado, the candidate for the governing conservative coalition, by more than three percentage points in Sunday's run-off.

Uruguay's left-wing opposition Broad Front candidate, Yamandú Orsi, claimed victory in Sunday's presidential runoff, besting Alvaro Delgado of the conservative ruling National Party.