A Jewish actor and comedian with no political experience won a commanding lead in the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election.

With more than 60 per cent of the votes counted by Monday morning, Volodymyr Zelensky had received 30.45 per cent of the ballots, with his nearest opponent, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, on just 16.2 per cent.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the country’s former prime minister, won 13.1 per cent.

Mr Zelensky has no political background, but plays the president in Servant of the People, a popular TV show in which his character, a former history teacher, wins the presidential election after a video of him condemning governmental corruption goes viral.

The political newcomer is reportedly being backed by Igor Kolomoiski, the Jewish-Ukrainian billionaire. Mr Poroshenko, himself worth hundreds of millions, derisively described Mr Zelenskiy as “Kolomoisky’s puppet.”

Under the Ukrainian political system, if no candidate secures a majority of the vote, the contest proceeds to a run-off between the two leading candidates, with this expected to take place on April 21.

Mr Zelensky said he was happy with the results but that “this is only the first step toward a great victory.”

Meanwhile, Mr Poroshenko described his disappointing result as a “tough lesson” and said there was a need for “serious work to correct mistakes made over the past years.”