Hungary PopuList Country Report

Party Overview

The column ‘status’ refers to whether the classification applies fully (●) or whether the party is a borderline case (◐).

Parties represented in parliament

Fidesz (Alliance of Young Democrats) is a populist far-right and Eurosceptic party, founded in 1988. The party started out as a liberal progressive force mobilising against the communist regime, but it underwent significant ideological change, reinventing itself as a conservative force. The ideological evolution continued through the Orbán I government (1998-2002), when the party started flirting with nativist themes in an attempt to woo the voters of the far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party and its coalition partners, the populist agrarian Independent Smallholders’ Party (FKgP) and the right-wing Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF). Despite increasing its electoral performance in 2002 (41.1% of the vote), Fidesz narrowly ranked second. During the period in office, the party decidedly veered to the far right and Euroscepticism, adopting anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQI+ views, and setting the country on an autocratic path. Fidesz returned 54.1% of the vote and another two-thirds majority in the 2022 election. The party has contested elections as part of the Fidesz-KDNP alliance since 2005. The Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) is a de facto satellite of Fidesz and it should be considered as part of Fidesz rather than a separate entity.

The Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom (Movement for a Better Hungary, Jobbik) is a populist right-wing party founded in 2003 and stemming from a movement of radically conservative Christian students. The party started out as far right with anti-establishment, anti-minority, irredentist, social conservative, and Eurosceptic views, and developed a harsh anti-immigration agenda at the peak of the EU immigration policy crisis of 2015. Jobbik entered parliament in 2010 (16.7% of the vote), improved its performance in 2014 (20.2%), and consolidated its standing as the main opposition party in 2018 (19.1%). Jobbik underwent a process of moderation since the mid 2010s.While the party has notably given up on its Euroscepticism and the most contentious aspects of its far-right repertoire, it is still committed to nationalist values. Jobbik now self-professes a ‘centrist people’s party’ profile. As of 2020, Jobbik is part of the United for Hungary political alliance alongside all other liberal opposition parties in an attempt to defeat PM Viktor Orbán. The alliance returned 34.5% of the vote in the 2022 election.

Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement, MHM) is a far-right party founded in 2018 by extremist Jobbik dissidents concerned over the party’s moderation strategy. MHM is ideologically anti-immigration, anti-minority, irredentist, anti-LGBTQI+, environmentalist, and hard Eurosceptic. MHM has been represented in parliament since 2018 through a split of Jobbik’s parliamentary group, played a vocal role in anti-lockdown protests during COVID-19 restrictions in Hungary, and entered parliament through popular mandate in 2022, with 5.9% of the vote.

Parties not/no longer represented in parliament

The Független Kisgazdapárt (Independent Smallholders’ Party, FKgP) was a populist right-wing party founded in 1930 and revived in 1988. The party was agrarian, nationalist, conservative, and anti-communist. The party took part in the first post-communist democratic government between 1990 and 1992 and joined the Fidesz-led Orbán I coalition government in 1998, after gaining 13.8% of the vote. The FKgP lost parliamentary representation in 2002. The party underwent several leadership changes and lately took a far-right turn, teaming up with Our Homeland Movement (MHM) and the moribund Hungarian Justice and Life Party. The party was liquidated in 2021 and its members joined MHM ranks.

The Magyar Igazság és Élet Pártja (Hungarian Justice and Life Party, MIÉP) was a populist far-right party founded in 1993 by former Hungarian Democratic Forum MP, István Csurka. The party was anti-minority, anti-Semitic, irredentist, and Eurosceptic. MIÉP managed 5.5% of the vote in the 1998 election, but failed to re-enter parliament in 2002 mostly due to increased turnout. The party teamed up with the far-right Jobbik in 2006, failing to cross the electoral threshold. MIÉP lied at the margins of Hungarian politics and eventually merged into the far-right Our Homeland Movement in 2021.

The Magyar Munkáspárt (Hungarian Workers’ Party, MMP) is a far-left party founded in 1989 as the (non-reformist) successor of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, the ruling party of Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The party is communist, left-wing nationalist, anti-NATO, and Eurosceptic. The party peaked at 4.1% of the vote in the 1998 election, but always failed to gain parliamentary presentation.