Ukraine’s most unexpected president Volodymyr Zelensky appears to pulled off another extraordinary act, with voters granting his untested party a commanding victory in Sunday’s general elections.

Exit polls indicated that Mr Zelensky would likely fall short of the 226 seats required to form a single-party majority in the Supreme Rada. But the strong projected showing of preferred coalition partner Holos, a new party fronted by the musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, means the president will be able form a workable coalition of likeminded forces.

The polling data, released at 8pm local time, suggested that Mr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party would win 44.4 per cent of the vote. The pro-Russia Opposition Platform For Life comes next with 12.5 per cent. European Solidarity, the vehicle of former president Petro Poroshenko, is projected third with 8.5 per cent. Fatherland, the vehicle of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko is on 7.7 per cent. Holos is the last to pass the 5 per cent parliamentary barrier on 6 per cent.

Ukraine’s complicated, mixed first-past-the-post and party list voting system means that it will be some while before an exact picture is formed, and the exit polls are likely to have a high margin of error.

Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Show all 26 1 /26 Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Volodymyr Zelenskiy, centre right, and his wife Olena Zelenska, greet supporters after exit polling gave the comedian a commanding lead AP Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Outgoing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko raises his hand with his wife Maryna at his party headquarters in Kiev AFP/Getty Images Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacts following the announcement of the first exit poll REUTERS Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Comedian and leading Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy plays ping pong with a journalist at his election night gathering in Kiev, Ukraine. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second-round election on April 21 Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Election officials count ballots at a polling station in Kiev during the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures People walk in front of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev during Ukraine's presidential election AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian servicemen sit in a truck to head to a polling station, near the front line with pro-Russian separatists, near Butivka, Donetsk region AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishke AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishkek AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishkek AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishkek AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A young girl casts the ballot of a man at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, on. Exit polls are expected when voting stations close at 8 pm local time (1700 GMT). First preliminary results are expected several hours after. Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held on April 2 AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky waves in front of voting booths at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko speaks with the media after casting her ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko speaks with the media after casting her ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko speaks with the media after casting her ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky casts his ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky gestures in front of voting booths at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Images Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky walks with his ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Images Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A view of the building of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission in Kiev during Ukraine's presidential election. AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) casts his ballot at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, The 53-year-old president has positioned himself during the political campaign as the only person able to stand up to the Kremlin and has promised to return Crimea to Ukraine if he is re-elected. AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A voter emerges from the voting booth after filling out her ballot for Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev, Ukraine. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second-round election on April 21. Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian president Petro O. Poroshenko (C), running for re-election, receives his ballot in Ukraine's presidential election on in Kiev, Ukraine. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second-round election on April 21 Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A woman holds her ballot as she leaves a voting booth at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election. - Exit polls are expected when voting stations close at 8 pm local time (1700 GMT). First preliminary results are expected several hours after. Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held on April 21 AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A young girl casts the ballot of a man at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election. Exit polls are expected when voting stations close at 8 pm local time (1700 GMT). First preliminary results are expected several hours after. Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held on April 21 AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian servicemen queue to cast their ballots at a polling station near the front line line with pro-Russian separatists near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, during the first round of Ukraine's presidential election AFP/Getty

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Zelensky described today’s vote as possibly more important than the presidential election, a nod to the wide-ranging powers enjoyed by Ukrainian legislators. He had asked for a strong mandate to implement reforms ranging from removing immunity for deputies, a tax amnesty and extending lustration, the process of barring previous officials from power. Today’s result appears to have granted him those powers.

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, Ukraine’s other showbiz politician, was the other main winner from the election. The “Ukrainian Bono” was long touted as a possible president before he withdrew earlier this year. For many, he was a more natural fit for politics than Mr Zelensky, having already served as a parliamentarian over 2007-08. But in the subsequent months, it was the comedian’s star that rose at the expense of the more famous musician. Some doubted he was ready for popular politics following a high-brow but lacklustre campaign. Now, he could be set for a junior role in coalition.

The presence of Holos in parliament has removed a major headache for Mr Zelensky: the prospect of negotiations with Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland fraction. Ms Tymoshenko, a crafty and vastly more experienced former PM, had been angling for a return to her previous role.

For the members of the previous governing powers, the results represented a humiliating rejection. Former president Petro Poroshenko, who just two months ago held all the shots, now looks forward to life in the second tier of Ukrainian politics. The nationalist-populist vote was also decimated, with former coalition party People’s Front out before the race even began, and populist Oleh Lyashko’s Radical party swept aside in the Zelensky revolution.

The election saw a final run out for Ukraine’s unusual mixed system that sees deputies elected via party lists (225) and first-past-the-post constituencies (199). While election observers said the vote was largely free and fair — it was in the latter category that the dirtiest battles took place.

District 94, which covers a strip of sleepy suburbia to the south of Kiev, was perhaps the most scandalous. Here, the choice essentially boiled down to two political beasts: Igor Kononenko, the grey cardinal of Petro Poroshenko’s administration regularly named in corruption investigations, and Alexander Dubinsky, a journalist of dubious ethical repute running on Mr Zelensky’s ticket.

Those were the only two candidates with the chance of winning, but the ballot paper offered voters a bewildering choice of another 40 names. The list included three Kononenkos, three Dubinskys, one Dubynsky and even a Holoborodko, the name assumed by Mr Zelensky in his long-running comedy series. The clones appeared designed to con voters into voting for the wrong candidate.

Volodymyr Zelensky sworn in as Ukraine president

The use of such clones had increased since the last elections in 2014, Vika Dumanska, coordinator of Chesno, a NGO monitoring organisation, told The Independent. But it was only one hit in an album of tested electoral bribes ranging from free food to children’s parties, she added.

The counting in district 94 as well as other first past the post constituencies is likely to stretch many days. But Dmytro Razumkov, leader of Mr Zelensky’s fraction, told journalists on Sunday evening that the party was polling unexpectedly well in such constituencies. He predicted the presidential ticket would take all of Kiev’s 17 districts.

That, says the independent political expert Vladimir Fesenko, opened up the possibility of Mr Zelensky forming a government on his own, or with the help of just a few independent MPs.