Peter Magyar's support surges in polls amid Hungarian political upheaval

The Hungarian party TISZA, recently taken over by Peter Magyar, a new critic of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is gaining traction in the run-up to the European Parliament (EP) elections, as shown by the latest survey from the Median agency.

Having announced his political entry just six weeks ago, Magyar's party has swiftly become the leading opposition force. By the end of April, 24 percent of voters were inclined to support him.

Despite these changes, the ruling coalition in Hungary, Fidesz-KDNP, still holds the majority of support at 46 percent. However, Orban's party is currently grappling with the fallout from a scandal that broke in February over the pardoning of an individual convicted of covering up paedophilia. This controversy led to the resignation of President Katalin Novak.

The findings from Median are consistent with those from other research institutions. The Iranytu Institute recently revealed that Magyar's party has surpassed all other opposition groups in popularity nationwide. At the same time, the IDEA Institute highlighted the most significant decline in support for Fidesz in years.

Polls suggest that the Fidesz-KDNP coalition may struggle to retain its current 13 seats in the EP from Hungary's total allocation of 21.

The EP elections in Hungary, set for 9 June, will be held simultaneously with local elections. Orban's government is particularly focused on increasing its representation among those who are critical of aid to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion and those concerned with migration issues.

This survey was conducted from 26-29 April on a representative sample of 970 individuals. The centre plans to release a more detailed analysis based on a larger sample of 1,000 respondents soon.