László Botka (born February 21, 1973) is a Hungarian politician. Botka was a member of the

Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...

between 1991 and 2019, and the current mayor of

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

Biography

László Botka was born on February 21, 1973, in

Tiszaföldvár Tiszaföldvár is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 12,027 people (2002). Politics The current mayor of Tiszaföldvár is Istv ...

, Hungary, as the first of two sons of Lajos Botka and Julianna Mária Lukács, both secondary school teachers. He attended the

Varga Katalin Secondary School The Varga Katalin Secondary School (since 2007 officially Varga Katalin Gimnázium – Varga Katalin Secondary School) is a secondary school in Szolnok, Hungary established in 1930, which was named after Katalin Bánffy between 1936 and 1951. It i ...

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain, wh ...

. In 1991, he moved to

to study at the Faculty of

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

of the

University of Szeged , mottoeng = Truth. Bravery. Freedom. , established = , type = Public research university , founder = Emperor Franz Joseph I , affiliation = European University Association, Science Without Borders, Confucius Institute , budget = US$220 mi ...

, from which he graduated in 1997. He joined the

in 1991. Between 1992 and 1994, he was leader of the socialist youth organization. In 1994, he was elected to represent Szeged in the

National Assembly of Hungary The National Assembly ( hu, Országgyűlés, lit=Country Assembly) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proporti ...

, becoming the youngest of the MPs. He lost his seat in the general elections held in 1998, but he was re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. In 2002, he was elected to Mayor of Szeged; he was re-elected in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2019. Upon the resignation of

Attila Mesterházy Attila Mesterházy (born 30 January 1974) is a Hungarian politician, who served as the seventh chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) from 10 July 2010 to 29 May 2014. He was the party's candidate for the position of Prime Minister of ...

following the disastrous

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

, Botka was elected interim leader of the Socialist Party as chairman of the organization's National Election Committee.

Personal life

Botka is married to Dr Andrea Lugosi.- Botka László vagyonnyilatkozata - 2003. február
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References

Living people 1973 births Hungarian socialists Hungarian Socialist Party politicians Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1994–1998) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) People from Tiszaföldvár {{Hungary-politician-stub