2026 Hungarian parliamentary election

Last updated

2026 Hungarian parliamentary election
Flag of Hungary.svg
  2022 April 2026

All 199 seats in the National Assembly
100 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
  Viktor Orban.2024 (cropped).jpg Peter Magyar MEP (2024).jpg
Leader Viktor Orbán Péter Magyar
Party Fidesz TISZA
Alliance Fidesz–KDNP
Leader since17 May 2003 [a] 22 July 2024
Last election135 seats, 54.1%Did not contest
Current seats1350
Seats neededSteady2.svgIncrease2.svg 100

  Klara.dobrev.2021.jpg Toroczkai Laszlo 2024 (cropped).jpg
Leader Klára Dobrev László Toroczkai
Party DK Mi Hazánk
Leader since1 June 202523 June 2018
Last election15 seats, 34.4% [b] 6 seats, 5.9%
Current seats166
Seats neededIncrease2.svg 84Increase2.svg 94

2026 Hungarian parliamentary election.svg

Incumbent cabinet

Fifth Orbán Government
Fidesz–KDNP



Parliamentary elections are expected to be held in Hungary in April 2026. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

2022 election

On 3 April 2022, with 54.13% of the popular vote, Fidesz-KDNP received the highest vote share by any party or alliance since 1990 and won two-thirds of the seats for the fourth time. The united opposition suffered a massive defeat and was shortly after dissolved, its members sat in separate political groups in the National Assembly. From other minor parties, only Our Homeland Movement reached the threshold for entry, while the Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party did not. [3]

Following the election, only the Democratic Coalition managed to achieve sustained double-digit poll results alongside Fidesz, but still lagged far behind the ruling parties. [4] [5]

The rise of TISZA

Magyar and Orban in 2024 Peter Magyar.Viktor Orban.jpg
Magyar and Orbán in 2024
Magyar campaigning at a rally in Siofok in 2025 Magyar Peter, Siofok (2024.03.27.).jpg
Magyar campaigning at a rally in Siófok in 2025

On 2 February 2024, it was revealed that President Katalin Novák had granted a pardon in April 2023 to a criminal involved in a pedophilia case. [6] The scandal resulted in Novák's resignation, as well as that of former justice minister Judit Varga, who had countersigned the pardon. [7] Not long after, Varga's ex-husband Péter Magyar published a Facebook post declaring that he would resign from all of his government-related positions, stating that the past few years had made him realize that the idea of a "national, sovereign, bourgeois Hungary" stated as the goal of Viktor Orbán's rule was in fact a "political product" serving to obscure massive corruption and transfers of wealth to those with the right connections. [8]

On 15 March, Magyar, despite initially refusing his participation in politics, held a rally attended by tens of thousands in Budapest at which he announced the formation of a new political party. [9] According to polling conducted that month, around 15% of voters claimed they were "certain or highly likely" to vote for Magyar if he ran for office. [10]

On 10 April, Magyar announced his bid to run in the European Parliament election with the at that point unknown Respect and Freedom Party, which finished in 2nd place with 30% of votes, the highest number and percentage of votes by any non-Fidesz party since 2006, eventuating collapse for other opposition parties with it and a new situation in Hungarian politics. Following the local elections, the strengthening of TISZA continued and according to the independent/opposition-aligned polls, by the end of the year it had become the most popular political party in Hungary, or at least a close competitor to Fidesz. [11] Therefore, opposition parties, such as Everybody's Hungary People's Party and Momentum Movement have decided not to run in the next election in the interest of government change. [12] [13]

Amendment of the electoral law

On 17 December 2024, the National Assembly voted changes about the 106 constituencies. As a result, the number of electoral districts in Budapest decreased from 18 to 16, while in Pest County it was increased from 12 to 14. Border changes in some parts of Csongrád-Csanád County and Fejér County also happened. The ruling Fidesz-KDNP made the decision citing changes in the results of latest census (2022), but according to the opposition, the real goal was to weaken their position in those, mainly capital districts, where they were previously elected directly. [14]

The changes have been accused of amounting to gerrymandering, with the opposition Tisza Party needing to win by around 5 points in the national vote in order to get a majority in the Assembly. [15]

Electoral system

The 199 members of the National Assembly will be elected by mixed-member majoritarian representation with two methods; 106 will be elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting, while the other 93 will be elected from a single nationwide constituency, mostly by proportional representation. The electoral threshold is set at 5%, although this is raised to 10% for coalitions of two parties and 15% for coalitions of three or more parties. Seats are then allocated using the D'Hondt method. [16]

Since 2014 each of the Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Rusyn, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian ethnic minorities can win one of the 93 party lists seats if they register as a specific list and reach a lowered quota of of the total of party list votes. Each minority is able to send a minority spokesman – without the rights of an MP – to the National Assembly, if the list does not reach this lowered quota. [17]

Opinion polls

Total

The following graph presents the average of all polls.

2026 Hungarian election polls.svg

By affiliation

The following two graphs present only the polls that are government-aligned, or independent/opposition-aligned, respectively.

Notes

  1. As Fidesz leader.
  2. As part of United for Hungary.

References

  1. "Ukraine will never join EU – Orban". Central European Times. 24 February 2025.
  2. János, Haász (2025-07-27). "Orbán Viktor egyértelművé tette, amit a Fidesz és Magyar Péter is tol egy ideje: jövő április 12-én lesz a választás". 444 (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  3. "Nemzeti Választási Iroda". valasztas.hu. 3 April 2022.
  4. "Árnyékkormányt alakít Dobrev Klára". telex.hu. 16 September 2022.
  5. "Molnár Csaba: Egy dolgot nem próbált még az ellenzék 2010 óta, hogy legyen egy domináns párt". telex.hu. 6 February 2023.
  6. "Children's home crisis threatens very foundation of Orban regime, say analysts". www.intellinews.com. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. Thorpe, Nick (10 February 2024). "Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigns over child-abuse pardon scandal". BBC . Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  8. "Varga Judit volt férje: Egy percig sem akarok olyan rendszer részese lenni, amelyben Tónik, Ádámok és Barbarák vígan röhöghetnek a markukba". telex (in Hungarian). 10 February 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. "Thousands protest in Budapest as Orban embroiled in corruption scandal". euronews. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. "In Hungary, Scandal and Crisis Suddenly Energize the Opposition". thebulwark. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  11. "Magyar Péter: Történelmet írunk, 18 éve nem volt ilyen". 24.hu (in Hungarian). 23 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  12. "Márki-Zay pártja nem indul a választáson". 444.hu (in Hungarian). 1 June 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  13. "Nem indul a Momentum a 2026-os országgyűlési választáson". telex.hu (in Hungarian). 7 June 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  14. "Megszavazták a választási törvény módosítását". 24.hu. 17 December 2024.
  15. "Gerrymandered districts, manipulated polls: Orbán's party banks on local races to win 2026 elections". Atlatszo. 2025-08-25. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  16. "Electing Members of the National Assembly - House of the National Assembly - Országgyűlés". House of the National Assembly. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  17. Nemzeti Választási Iroda National Election Office