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From Flávio Bolsonaro's headquarters, the BBC watches Lula win a fourth term

BBC News' live coverage pairs the night's narrow margin with an analyst's warning that debt and living costs decided the vote, and that the result may be contested.

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BBC News Story of October 26, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of BBC News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 112,230 views.

Brazil's left-wing President Lula elected for fourth term | BBC News

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0:00Breaking news: Brazilian media project that Lula has defeated Flávio Bolsonaro.
0:41Analyst Bruna Santos says debt and living costs were decisive, citing 80% of Brazilian families in debt.
2:11Santos expects a challenge to the result over extended voting hours and polling confusion.
4:18Ione Wells, at Bolsonaro's Brasília headquarters, reports Lula at roughly 51% with over 93% counted.
6:56Wells looks at governing a divided Brazil at 80 and relations with Trump's United States.
10:17Brazil's electoral authority confirms Lula's fourth presidential term.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term as Brazil's president, beating Flávio Bolsonaro in what BBC News calls a knife-edge vote. The channel's live broadcast follows the night from the first media projection to the moment the presenter confirms it: "Lula, the left-wing incumbent, has defeated Flávio Bolsonaro, the right-wing senator, to go on to win a fourth term."

The ballot box itself was covered elsewhere this morning. The BBC's report goes to the other side of the night. Americas correspondent Ione Wells stands outside Bolsonaro's headquarters in Brasília, where she watches dejected supporters leave the venue. With more than 93% of votes counted, she reports Lula at roughly 51% and Bolsonaro at 48.3%. She also raises the possibility of a right-wing backlash and claims of election interference.

In the studio, Bruna Santos of the Inter-American Dialogue's Brazil Institute points to the economy. "80% of Brazilian families today are in debt," she says, and she counts debt and living costs among the decisive issues. Santos also expects a challenge to the result, because voting hours were extended and there was confusion at polling stations. According to the BBC, voting ran two extra hours at some stations after both campaigns asked for it.

Lula, 80, framed the race as a question of "sovereignty," the BBC reports, a choice between a candidate who kissed the Brazilian flag and one who kissed the American flag. Wells looks at the work ahead: governing a deeply divided country, and Brazil's relations with Washington under Donald Trump.

The report drew more than 110,000 views in its first three hours, and its comments arrived faster than on any usual BBC upload.

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