The leader of Greece’s conservatives yesterday signalled that he would step down as the party seeks to recover from the shock of a heavy election defeat.

New Democracy said it would hold a leadership election as soon as possible after losing to the leftist Syriza party. Vangelis Meimarakis, who shepherded the party through Sunday’s ballot, said he was unlikely to stand.

The first candidate to throw his hat in the ring was lawmaker Kyriakos Mitsotakis, scion of one of Greece’s most influential political families, who announced his intention to run on his Twitter feed.

His father Constantinos served as prime minister from 1990 to 1993 and his older sister, DoraB akoyianni, was foreign minister from 2006 to 2009.

Though opinion polls had suggested that the race was neck-and-neck, New Democracy ended up losing by seven percentage points, a result that returned Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras as prime minister. Meimarakis took over as party leader in July from former PM Antonis Samaras, who quit in response to a strong ‘no’ vote in a referendum on whether Greece should accept the terms of what became its third international bailout.

Commentators generally agreed that Meimarakis had matched Tsipras in two high-profile televised debates at which he pushed one central message: that Tsipras could not be trusted after accepting the bailout terms he had vehemently opposed.

Tsipras, meanwhile, labelled Meimarakis a representative of a discredited political establishment.

Political analyst Theodore Couloumbis said a perceived lack of charisma might have put Meimarakis at a disadvantage, but added: “I would, however, make the reverse assumption and put the emphasis on Tsipras, who is younger, better-looking and articulate.”

He said the inaccuracy of the polls reflected the difficulty of measuring a gut feeling rather than a carefully considered opinion. “A lot of people assume voters act rationally ... [But polling] is a bit like weather forecasting, more of an art than a science.”

A rational voter might have concluded that “Tsipras came to power in January and has made a mess since”, he said. But the unexpected willingness to give him a second chance suggested something more emotional.