Serbia’s long-standing leader Aleksandar Vučić has admitted defeat to the student-led protest movement in snap parliamentary elections.

“We still do not have final results… it is clear that we have lost these elections,” the right-wing populist leader said as he conceded late on Sunday.

Preliminary figures provided by Serbia’s election commission indicated a record high turnout, which commentators had suggested would favour the student movement.

Vučić had called the snap elections after two years of protests triggered by the 2024 collapse of a train station canopy in the city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 and was seen as emblematic of corruption and negligence in Serbia.

Vučić had spent two terms as president and could not seek a third term, so was leading his party with the aim of returning to the post of prime minister, which he left in 2017.

He made his announcement at the headquarters of his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the capital Belgrade.

There were celebrations on the streets of the city, with people dancing and chanting “victory”, cars honking, and fireworks set off. “Serbia is free,” one student told the BBC. “It’s a miracle.”

The Student List – which has no obvious leaders and whose members are not used to politics – had attracted anti-government voters across Serbia.

It decided to field candidates to the 250-member parliament from across Serbian society including doctors, actors, academics and sports personalities.

“This will be a free state,” its lead candidate – cardiologist Ilija Srdanović – said in a statement to BBC Serbian as the result became clear.

He said the movement hoped to “free the country from tyranny”.

The anti-corruption movement campaigned on a manifesto that included purging officials who broke rules cracking down on protesters, stopping party loyalists from leading public enterprises, and freeing the public broadcaster of political control.

Vučić and the SNS party have repeatedly denied corruption.

Vučić, who backs Serbia’s candidacy for the European Union while refusing to impose sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, had pledged to increase pensions and public sector salaries, and investment in state healthcare.

Preliminary figures provided by Serbia’s election commission suggested a record high turnout, with 64.9% having cast their vote by 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), two hours before polls were set to close.