How was Orbán defeated? With energetic campaigning and cunning exploitation of his weaknesses | Tibor Dessewffy

Péter Magyar did not need to dismantle the system – but he understood that Hungarians care more about the cost of living than conspiracies

Hungary’s election delivered an unprecedented victory for Viktor Orbán’s challenger.

With a record turnout of https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/12/viktor-orban-concedes-defeat-as-opposition-wins-hungarian-election">nearly 80% and a supermajority for the Tisza party of almost 70% of the seats, this was not merely a change of government: it was a change of regime, compressed into a single election night.

After 16 years in power, Orbán became the victim of his own creation.

Hungary’s electoral machinery, carefully engineered to convert a relative majority into overwhelming parliamentary dominance, worked perfectly – just not for him.

In the end, the opposition leader, Péter Magyar, did not need to dismantle the system; he simply recognised the rules of the game and played to win.

Orbán’s 2011 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/25/fidesz-hungarian-constitution">electoral laws, designed to punish a fragmented opposition, ultimately proved fatal to their creator, when he was faced with a challenger who could turn those winner-takes-all mechanics to his advantage.

Tibor Dessewffy is director of the digital sociology research centre at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations