Greece election: Syriza takes early lead

Greece’s left-wing Syriza party has taken an early lead over the conservative New Democracy, with counting under way in the nation’s fifth election in six years.
With 10% of votes counted, Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza had 35% of the vote, according to interior ministry data, with New Democracy on 28%.
The snap election was called after Syriza lost its majority in August
Mr Tsipras’s popularity plummeted after he agreed a new financial bailout deal.
The final exit poll suggested Syriza had a lead of between 4.5 and 5 points over New Democracy.
Syriza supporters at the party’s main electoral HQ in Athens cheered and clapped as the exit polls were announced.
Mr Tsipras was hugged by party supporters as he arrived there.
However, a result along these lines will not give Mr Tsipras an absolute majority.
The BBC’s Richard Galpin in Athens says this will mean another period of political instability just as deadlines loom for the implementation of a series of key financial reforms.
Mr Tsipras had signed the bailout deal shortly after holding a referendum in which more than 60% of voters rejected the austerity measures creditors wanted to impose.
In interviews leading up to the election, Mr Tsipras said he had put his country above his party. He said that had he not agreed to the three-year bailout, Greece would probably have had to leave the eurozone.