ATHENS: Greece's ruling conservative party New Democracy (ND) won local elections on Sunday, but was defeated in the capital of Athens and in the Thessaly region that was hard-hit by floods in September.

ND had already led in seven of 13 regions in the first round of local elections last week, a total it increased to eight in Sunday's run-off polls.

But in Athens, the prime minister's nephew and incumbent ND mayor Kostas Bakoyannis lost to socialist candidate, Haris Doukas.

A professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Doukas led with 55.93 percent while Kostas Bakoyannis 44.07 percent, with 90.51 percent of ballots counted.

In Thessaly, Greece's breadbasket hit by a devastating summer storm that killed 17 people and destroyed crops, ND candidate Kostantinos Agorastos also lost to independent Kouretas Dimitrios, who took in over 59 percent of the vote with over 80 percent of ballots tallied.

But in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, supported by the ruling party, was re-elected to govern Central Macedonia for a third term with a majority of over 60 percent of the vote.

Abstention was considerable in Sunday's runoff polls, with turnout down over 11.5 percent from last week's voter participation of 42.6 percent, according to Deputy Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios.

Four months ago, in the June general elections, ND saw a landslide victory of 40.56 percent, 20 points more than its main rival, the radical left Syriza.