Gyurcsány is gone! One down, one to go!

Small mercies! Since Peter Magyar exploded onto the Hungarian political scene in February 2024, the twists and turns have been rather incredible. 

A brand new political party, Tisza, winning almost 30% at the 2024 EU Parliament elections. 

Fidesz trailing in the polls since November 2024. 

But now, most incredible of all, Ferenc Gyurcsany — former Prime Minister — has resigned from politics.

Or shall we say his ex-wife resigned him?

Gyurcsany has been a hated figure in Hungarian politics since 2006 when a tape was leaked of him as Prime Minister giving a speech in Őszöd (since known as the Őszödi speech) in which he admitted to “lying day and night” about the economy.

Most Prime Ministers, when they are fired or resign, write books, or join think tanks, or give speeches, or do oil paintings. But not our Gyurcsany, he stayed around in politics for another 15 years causing untold damage.

Fidesz effectively used him as a boogeyman — “If you vote for anyone else, you’ll get Gyurcsany again!” Boo!

He poisoned the well of the opposition because anyone who tried to rise up as an opposition was immediately tainted with being a shill for Gyurcsany….These smaller parties didn’t help themselves when they actively went into to coalition with Gyurcsany’s DK party in 2022 elections.

It got to the most ridiculous point where it was even rumoured that Orban was paying Gyurcsany to stick around as his mere presence practically guaranteed a win for Fidesz.

Then, on the 8th of May 2025, after 15+ years of hanging around like a bad smell, his wife — Klara Dobrev (also a politician) — resigned him, divorced him and basically announced she was the new boss of the party he founded. In a Facebook post.

How unedifying. How weird. How gossipy!

Did he get a bit to careless with an affair partner? Did his mother-in-law kick him to the curb? Did Orban command it to mask a leaked tape breaking in the news that day? Did Gyurcsany simply accept that he had no political future?

In any case and whatever the reason, up-and-coming opposition leader Peter Magyar said from day dot that the country needed to turn a page on both Orban and Gyurcsany. That they were two side of the same coin. 

His rise in the polls over the course of the past year was reducing the vote share of both Orban and Gyurcsany and he was well on his way to achieving this goal.

It’s just that no one expected one of the chips to fall so soon and so suddenly.

One down, one to go!