A leadership election for

KDU-ČSL KDU-ČSL (In Czech language, Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; ), often shortened to ("the populars"), is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Czec ...

was held on 18 October 2024.

Marek Výborný Marek Výborný (born 10 July 1976) is a Czech politician, who has been serving as the Czech Minister of Agriculture in Petr Fiala's Cabinet since June 2023 and the leader of KDU-ČSL since October 2024. He was also the leader of KDU-ČSL betwe ...

was elected the new leader.

Background

Marian Jurečka Marian Jurečka (born 15 March 1981) is a Czech politician, who has served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs since 17 December 2021 and Minister of the Environment from November 2022 to March 2023, both in Petr ...

became leader of the party in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Under his leadership it became part of

Spolu Spolu (, stylized as SPOLU) is a Czech centre-right political alliance composed of the Civic Democratic Party, KDU-ČSL, and TOP 09. It forms the current Czech government, in coalition with the Mayors and Independents. Initially formed for the ...

alliance which won 2021 parliamentary election and

Cabinet of Petr Fiala The Cabinet of Petr Fiala is the current government of the Czech Republic, appointed on 17 December 2021. Following elections in October 2021, President Miloš Zeman asked Petr Fiala, as the leader of the Spolu alliance, to form a new governmen ...

was formed. KDU-ČSL became part of government. Voting preferences of KDU-ČSL dropped to 2% and Jurečka stated that he will decide whether he wil run for reelection after

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

and 2024 Czech regional elections. He set up a task to complete if he wants to run for another term. Terms were to reverse the trend of declining preferences, succeed in the European election and succeed in regional and senate elections. He failed to achieve one of these tasks as KDU-ČSL won only 1 seat in European Parliament indstead of 2. Following European Parliament election discussions within the party about new leader started. Discussed candidates included Governor of South Moravian Region Jan Grolich, Senator

Jiří Čunek Jiří Čunek (born 22 February 1959) is a Czech politician who was the leader of the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party from December 2006 to May 2009. Čunek was also deputy prime minister and the minister for Regio ...

and Ministers Marek Výborný and Petr Hladík. Grolich led Spolu alliance to victory in 2024 Souh Bohemian regional election with 40% of votes which confirmed his as potential candidate for leader. Grolich stated that he would run only if Jurečka decides not to seek another term. Jurečka stated on 21 September 2024 that he will announce his decision in one week. Grolich's potential candidacy was endorsed by Ministers

and Petr Hladík. Another potential candidate

mentioned on 22 September 2024 that he is yet to decide whether he runs for the leader. On 30 September 2024 Grolich announced he won't run for the position of leader. South Moravian regional organisation then nominated Marek Výborný. Výborný stated that he will decide in several days whether he runs or not. On 3 October 2024, Výborný announced candidacy. Jurečka announced his candidacy on the same day.

announced candidacy on 14 October 2024. On 17 October 2024, Šimon Heller and Tomáš Kaplan announced candidacy. Jiří Regner announced candidacy on 18 October 2024, while

Pavel Bělobrádek Pavel Bělobrádek (; born 25 December 1976) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician who served as the leader of Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party, KDU-ČSL from 2010 to 2019. Political career 2010–2013 In the 2010 C ...

and Michaela Šojdrová decided to not run.

Candidates

, the incumbent leader and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs *

, Senator and former leader of the party. * , MP * Tomáš Kaplan, leader of Prague organisation *

, Minister of Agriculture and former leader of the party initially expressed interest in running before endorsing Grolich for the position. After Grolich decided to not run, Výborný received nomination from South Moravian regional organisation. He decided to run. * Jiří Regner, deputy mayor of

Červený Kostelec Červený Kostelec (; ) is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,300 inhabitants. Administrative division Červený Kostelec consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population accord ...

Potential candidates

* , MP. *

Tomáš Zdechovský Tomáš Zdechovský (born 2 November 1979) is a Czech politician and businessperson. In 2004, he founded Commservis.com, a communications and PR agency, of which he was CEO until his election as a Member of the European Parliament in 2014. Since ...

, MEP.

Declined to run

* Petr Hladík,

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

initially expressed interest in running but eventually endorsed Grolich for the position. * Jan Grolich, South Moravian Governor. *

, former leader and MP, endorsed both Jurečka and Výborný. * Michaela Šojdrová, former MEP, endorsed both Jurečka and Výborný.

Voting

Two candidates advanced form 1st round of voting. Výborný received 114 votes and Jurečka 78 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:KDU-CSL leadership election, 2024 2024 elections in the Czech Republic 2024 political party leadership elections October 2024 in the Czech Republic Indirect elections

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...