Ko Wen-je: The dark horse who has shaken up Taiwan's politics

As the dust settles from the fiercely fought Taiwan presidential election won by William Lai, another unlikely winner has emerged.

On Saturday, more than a quarter of Taiwan's voters, including many young people, chose maverick politician Ko Wen-je in the presidential poll.

And in the legislature elections, his fledgling Taiwan's People Party (TPP) won eight seats which could wield power in a parliament where no-one has won the majority.

While the TPP's gains are modest and Mr Ko himself came in last, observers say he has irrevocably altered Taiwan's political landscape - long dominated by two parties, the Kuomintang (KMT) and Mr Lai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"It's now no longer a two horse race, it's a three horse race," said Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist and non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.

Though Mr Ko, a former mayor of Taipei, is a seasoned politician, this was his first stab at the presidency.

He campaigned on a platform of "taking down the blue and green" - blue is the KMT's colour and green is the DPP's - while positioning himself as the middle option on issues such as cross-strait relations.

Since 2016 there have been other outlier parties that have made headway in polls.

But the TPP's performance is the clearest sign yet of voters demanding a more pluralistic political landscape, say observers, and it is driven by passionate young Taiwanese.

Many youths were visibly upset at Saturday's result, with some even alleging electoral fraud online.

Part of the attraction was Mr Ko himself, a straight-talking politician who could break out into the occasional rap. Young people found him quirky and endearing, though he has also been criticised for comments perceived as sexist