Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party has lost its lead in a second consecutive opinion poll, suggesting a potentially close race for the 2026 parliamentary election, Bloomberg reports.
The latest poll, conducted by Publicus Institute and published by Nepszava newspaper on Thursday, places support for Peter Magyar’s Tisza party at 24% among the entire population, surpassing Fidesz by one percentage point. Among decided voters, Tisza enjoys a 39% support, while Fidesz stands at 37%.
This survey, conducted between October 11th and 18th among 1,000 people, follows a similar poll released on Wednesday, which also showed Tisza edging out Fidesz for the first time since Orban’s return to power in 2010.
While Tisza’s lead remains within the margin of error in both polls, these results mark a significant shift in the political landscape, raising the stakes for the upcoming election.
Peter Magyar, a 43-year-old former diplomat and former Fidesz insider, has emerged as a formidable challenger to Orban, the European Union’s longest-serving leader. Magyar’s Tisza party surged to second place in the European Parliament elections in June, signaling his growing popularity.
These polls suggest that the race for the 2026 Hungarian election could be much closer than previously anticipated. While past polls have shown false dawns for the opposition before, the consistent decline in Fidesz’s support raises concerns for Orban, who has consistently maintained a strong grip on power since 2010.
