Peter Magyar is Hungary's prime minister-elect, who won the April 12th 2026 election in a landslide, with his Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party beating Viktor Orban's Fidesz by roughly 52% to 40%. Tisza won a two-thirds supermajority: preliminary counts give it 137 of the 199 seats. Our Homeland, an ultra-nationalist party, took 6%. Magyar is a former member of Fidesz whose ex-wife was minister of justice, giving him inside knowledge of the party's workings. He burst onto the scene in early 2024 when he revealed efforts within Fidesz to protect officials who had covered up a child sexual-abuse case. He took over Tisza, then a tiny splinter party, and after a few months of frenzied campaigning won 30% of the vote at the European Parliament election in June 2024.
Magyar's own political beliefs are centre-right. He has avoided overtly liberal stances such as attacking Orban over his hostility to Ukraine, instead focusing on corruption, inflation and deteriorating public services, especially hospitals. He has made a complete break with the parties that led the opposition to Fidesz over the past decade. Tisza's candidates for parliament, selected in November 2025, are largely political neophytes with prominent roles in their communities.
Magyar is 45 years old, a handsome and talented speaker with a sharp sense of humour, a flair for social media and a large ego. Some wonder whether jealousy over his wife's success spurred his defection; his ex-wife, the justice minister, had signed a presidential pardon for the well-connected deputy director of a children's home who had covered up sexual abuse. Magyar quit Fidesz, began denouncing it on Facebook and posted recordings of his ex-wife discussing backroom dealings over the pardon.
Nearly all opposition groups—conservative, liberal and leftist—have united behind him. Most opposition parties stood down to let him take his shot. Magyar addresses rallies in four or five towns a day, touring the country relentlessly.
On April 12th 2026 Magyar defeated Orban decisively. Rural regions in the east and south, fed up with corroding social services and an economy that had barely grown since the EU blocked aid over corruption concerns in 2022, went for Tisza as well as liberal Budapest. The day after, in a three-hour press conference, Magyar declared: "The Hungarian people voted not for a simple change of government, but for a complete change of regime. This country was held hostage. It was a captured state."
Magyar demanded the resignations of Fidesz officials including the president, the heads of the supreme and constitutional courts and the chief prosecutor, threatening to use his two-thirds majority to oust them if they do not leave. He plans to reform the constitution Fidesz distorted (after popular consultation), institute a two-term limit for prime ministers, and end subsidies for outfits such as the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Foundation. He wants to avoid the fate of Poland's Donald Tusk, who has struggled to restore the rule of law since defeating his country's populists in 2023.
His first priority is to unlock EU funds worth around €18bn ($21bn), nearly 10% of GDP. Officials in Brussels are well disposed but want a clear plan to restore the rule of law. Much of the aid comes from the EU's post-covid recovery plan and will expire at the end of August 2026. Magyar has also promised to lift Orban's veto on a €90bn EU loan for Ukraine. He is less likely to reverse Hungary's friendly stance towards China, which has huge battery and electric-vehicle investments in the country.
Orban can remain in office until May 12th. Before the election there were reports of people taking Fidesz-linked wealth out of the country. Donald Trump had promised to back Hungary with America's "full economic might" if Orban won.
Magyar was sworn in on May 9th 2026—"Europe Day"—signalling Hungary's recommitment to the EU. MPs sang four anthems: Hungarian, Szekely, "Ode to Joy" and the unofficial Roma anthem. His cabinet has 16 ministers, mostly outsiders. Foreign minister: Anita Orban (no relation), a diplomat and energy expert. Economy minister: Istvan Kapitany, a former Shell executive. Defence minister: Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, ousted by Viktor Orban as armed-forces chief of staff over his pro-Western views. Magyar's first misstep was nominating his brother-in-law as justice minister; he withdrew amid accusations of nepotism. To unlock blocked EU funds Magyar is creating a misappropriated-assets recovery programme and joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
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