Hungary’s opposition Tisza party ahead of PM Orban’s Fidesz in second poll

BUDAPEST, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Hungary’s opposition Tisza party has a small lead over the ruling Fidesz party, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday, the second survey this week to show Tisza overtaking Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party.

Centre-right Tisza’s leader, Peter Magyar, a former government insider, swept into Hungarian politics before June’s European Parliament elections when he mounted a serious challenge to Orban, capitalising on discontent with other opposition parties.

On Wednesday, a Tisza party rally in Budapest attracted a crowd of over 10,000 people as the country marked the anniversary of the 1956 revolt against Soviet domination that was crushed by the Red Army.

In a speech at the rally, Magyar, 43, announced steps to prepare his party for elections in 2026. He pledged to root out corruption, invest in healthcare and education, and start a “national dialogue” with voters.

The poll by the Publicus Institute think tank, conducted between Oct. 11-18, showed that Tisza had 39% support among decided voters while Fidesz had 37%.

“Here is more research that shows the Fidesz-Tisza race is almost a tie,” political analyst Gabor Torok wrote on his blog, noting it was a big change from the lead Fidesz enjoyed in the European Parliament elections, when polls showed it on 45% and Tisza on 30%.

A poll on Wednesday, conducted by the 21 Research Center, a Budapest-based think-tank, showed Tisza with 42% support among decided voters, with Fidesz at 40%.

Later on Thursday, pro-government think tank Nezopont published a poll showing Fidesz still had a big lead over Tisza, at 49% among decided voters with Tisza only at 34%.

Two other recent opinion polls showed Fidesz with a shrinking lead over Tisza. In most polls, around 30% of voters are undecided.

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