This “supermajority” will enable the Tisza government to amend not only the constitution but also any of the many “two-thirds” laws introduced by previous Fidesz governments in an attempt to keep them in the statute book in perpetuity.
The previously mighty Fidesz, under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, the winner of the previous four elections, achieved 38.6% of the vote to secure 52 seats, with the radical-right Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) third with six seats, all courtesy of their 5.6% share of the list vote.
“This is a completely new beginning for Hungarian politics. It was not only Fidesz that lost this election; it’s really the whole party-political structure of post-1990 Hungary. The Socialists, Democratic Coalition, Momentum, Jobbik […] all parties that had some sort of history in the Hungarian political sphere since 1990, have virtually disappeared, and I include Fidesz in that as well,” political analyst Zoltán Ranschburg told the press two days later in an assessment of the results.
Following Orbán’s congratulatory phone call, Magyar, the Tisza leader who was virtually unknown in the country up to 26 months ago, delivered his election victory speech. In this, he asked President Tamás Sulyok to invite him to form a new government, then demanded that Sulyok resign as a “puppet” of the Orbán regime.
Magyar further instructed the “puppet” heads of other state bodies also to resign, including the chief prosecutor, the president of the State Audit Office, the presidents of the Kúria and Constitutional Court, and the head of the Media Council, to voluntarily leave their posts to avoid the new administration using its two-thirds majority, to remove them.
On a more positive note, the prime minister-in-waiting promised to bring Hungary once more into the Western fold, aligning the country with NATO and the European Union, and thereby access those funds held up by Brussels over concerns about corruption, the rule of law, and human rights.
While all this felt like music to the ears of his cheering supporters on the banks of the Danube that night, removing what he termed the “puppet” Orbán appointees could prove difficult, given that most are protected in their posts by law for long tenures, which in the case of Constitutional Judges is up to 12 years.
The following day, Magyar, speaking at a marathon three-hour-long international press conference, promised to implement anti-corruption measures, take action to recover illicitly acquired assets, and introduce a constitutional amendment limiting prime ministers to a maximum of two terms.
As for the European Union, while it naturally makes mistakes and at times there may be disputes, “we are not going to write on billboards that Brussels is evil,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greeted the election result, saying it was a “time for celebration” as the Hungarian people had expressed their will and returned to the European path, making it a victory for fundamental freedoms.
“Péter Magyar has won an extraordinary mandate: he has turned public exhaustion into a governing supermajority. He now has the chance to put Hungary back on a path of rule of law, transparency and national competitiveness. His biggest challenge will be building institutions, and in the end, he will be judged by results.” Les Nemethy, founder and CEO of Budapest-based financial advisory firm Europhoenix.
The 2026 Hungarian election attracted 5.99 million domestic ballots, a record 79.56% of registered voters, according to the National Election Office website on the morning of April 20, after all ballots from embassies and consular offices abroad, plus those from ethnic Hungarians abroad, were counted over the weekend. As a result, there will be just three parties in the new parliament.
The Tisza Party received 3.39 million votes on the party list, accounting for 53.18% of the total. Fidesz achieved 2.46 million votes, on 38.61% of the total. Our Homeland came third, with 358,000 votes, or 5.63%.
The center-left Democratic Coalition achieved 1.1% of the vote, failing to reach the 5% threshold on the party list vote.
Support for the spoof Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, at just 0.8%, failed to reach the 1% threshold required to be eligible for the HUF 686 million in state support already provided. Party members must therefore repay this.
The expected election of a Roma MP using the ethnic national list vote was unsuccessful. The Roma list vote totaled a little under 19,000 ballots, falling short of the election threshold for this category. These votes were therefore wasted.
Voter turnout in Budapest was a record 83.1%, but unusually, this was not the highest rate in the country; that title went to Vas County, in western Hungary, which achieved 83.49% across its three constituencies.
However, Budapest’s third constituency (District XII) achieved the highest turnout nationwide with 87.82% of registered voters casting ballots. Tisza party leader and prime minister-elect Péter Magyar won the seat with 43,112 (63.7%) of the votes cast.
The lowest constituency turnout was recorded in the northern town of Ózd, though even that was a still creditable 66.24% participation rate.
Some figures have been rounded for clarity. Source: National Election Office
One notable Orbán appointee absent from the list of “puppets” that Péter Magyar urged to resign was Mihály Varga, the governor of the National Bank of Hungary since March 2025. Indeed, Magyar later singled out Varga as someone “with whom we would like to do work, in line with the central bank act. This is why we decided to try to work with him.”
Varga, 61, joined Fidesz soon after the party’s foundation in 1988 and served in each of Orbán’s five governments since 1998. Hence, the move indicates that Magyar is not necessarily on a witch hunt against all those with Fidesz allegiances.
“Mihály Varga is really a very interesting case, an economic expert by reputation. I think there is pretty much political consideration behind not mentioning him as one of the potential targets as some sort of purge. It’s certainly a very considered decision,” said political analyst Zoltán Ranschburg.
In contrast, on April 20, Magyar renewed the pressure on his list of Orbán “puppets,” insisting that they resign by May 31 or face the ignominy of a public sacking. Thus far, these officials have shown little intention of following Magyar’s will, with President Sulyok only offering to consider his request after a meeting on April 15.
“I have no idea how these changes in personnel are actually going to go down individually. I’m not a lawyer, so the legal circumstances might be different in each case, [but] we know that there is not too much willingness from the side of the people that Magyar asked to resign,” Ranschburg said.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of April 24, 2026.
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