Elite defection and opposition realignment in Hungary: Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) in the 2024 European Parliamentary elections

Abstract

The 2024 European Parliamentary elections yielded an opposition landslide in Hungary. Respect and Freedom (TISZA), a genuinely new party led by a Fidesz defector, emerged as Orbán's unequivocal challenger. Drawing on novel post-election survey data, the paper demonstrates the centrist anti-establishment party character of TISZA, which appeals not only to former voters of opposition parties but also to some who previously supported the government or far-right fringe parties. Results also indicate that TISZA voters are markedly pro-European, while possessing high levels of political knowledge and low levels of trust. They tend to have more progressive, integrationist, and pro-Ukraine issue positions than Fidesz voters.