Montevideo | The presidential candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed Uruguay for the past five years has conceded defeat after a close runoff election even as the vote count continued.

Álvaro Delgado, the centre-right government's candidate, told his supporters at his campaign headquarters on Sunday that "with sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner," referring to left-wing challenger Yamandú Orsi.

Electoral officials said that Orsi had secured 7,84,523 votes with over half of all ballots counted, compared to Delgado's 7,71,434.

The Broad Front released a statement on X saying that "Joy will return" and announcing Orsi as president.

Delgado's concession, with more than 57% of official votes counted, ushers in Orsi of the centre-left Broad Front as Uruguay's new leader. It spells an end to the short stint of the right-leaning government in Uruguay that, in 2020, with the election of President Luis Lacalle Pou, had broken 15 years of rule by the Broad Front. The Broad Front drew international acclaim over those years for overseeing the legalisation of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana.

The Broad Front released a statement on X saying that "Joy will return" and announcing Orsi as president.

"I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as President-elect of our country," Lacalle Pou wrote on social media platform X, adding that he would "put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate".