Mexico’s voters now have a clear indication of who the candidates for the three leading political parties in July’s presidential elections will be but the race will be closer than had been expected.

The emergence of Felipe Calderón, the former energy minister, as the candidate for President Vicente Fox’s National Action party (PAN) on Sunday could bolster the party, which has lost popularity due to an inability to deliver on campaign promises. But the defeat in PAN’s internal elections of the early favourite, Santiago Creel, the former interior minister who was widely considered a weak candidate, will change the dynamics of the election.