WHEN Ewa Kopacz succeeded Donald Tusk as Poland’s prime minister last autumn, she became only the second woman in the job, after Hanna Suchocka in 1992-93. After the general election in October, the next government will again be led by a woman—but it may not be Ms Kopacz. Her centre-right Civic Platform (PO) is trailing behind its biggest rival, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party. And at its convention on June 20th PiS announced that, if it wins, its deputy leader, Beata Szydlo, would become prime minister.
Ms Szydlo rose to prominence by managing the campaign of Andrzej Duda, who was elected president in May. Boosted by this upset, PiS now hopes to return to power after eight years in opposition. The choice of Ms Szydlo suggests the party has learnt from past mistakes. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, its veteran leader, had been expected to run a PiS government, as he did in 2006-07. But the success of the milder Mr Duda, who styled himself a moderate, persuaded Mr Kaczynski to stay out of the limelight and nominate Ms Szydlo instead. He called her “at once a completely extraordinary and ordinary…