Flávio Bolsonaro poised to win Brazilian presidency after shock first-round victory

Progressive voters and supporters of incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva left reeling after far-right surge Flávio Bolsonaro is in pole position to win Brazil’s presidential election, after a far-right tsunami propelled him to a first-round victory over the incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leaving progressive voters reeling. The 45-year-old rightwing candidate received 56.1m votes to Lula’s 53.8m – 47.03% to 45.16% – meaning the 80-year-old leftwinger has a mountain to climb if he is to bounce back in the second round on 25 October. Never, since the return of democracy to Brazil in 1985, has the first-round runner-up managed to turn the game around and win the second ballot. Four members of disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s family have been elected to office, most notably his wife and son Flávio, who won the first round of voting to be Brazil’s new president The weekend’s elections in Brazil not only put Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, in the lead in the presidential race , but also underscored how far the former president has come in building a…