József Tóth (born 5 February 1950) is a Hungarian politician, who has been the mayor of the

13th district of Budapest 13th District (Hungarian: ''XIII. kerület'') is the 13th district of Budapest, Hungary. The main parts are Angyalföld, Népsziget, Újlipótváros and Vizafogó (and until 2013 Margaret Island). List of mayors Twin towns – sister citi ...

since 1994 as a member of the

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

, making him the longest-serving

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

district mayor in the history of the

Third Hungarian Republic Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Carpathian basin, Carpathian Basin) in Central Europe. During the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural s ...

. He was also a member of the National Assembly (MP) for Angyalföld (Budapest Constituency XX) from 2002 to 2014.

Early life and early political career

József Tóth was born in the Hungarian capital

on 5th February 1950, however, not much is publicly known about his upbringing. He graduated from the János Bolyai Electronics Vocational School in 1968. In the same year, he started working in the Elzett factory in the city. He continued his studies at the College of Commerce and Hospitality, the College of Politics and the College of Foreign Trade. He obtained qualifications in marketing communication and tourism and hotel industry economics, and in 1986 he obtained a doctorate with his thesis on economic policy. Around this time, he was also active in politics and sports.

After regime change and mayorship

In October 1989, he became one of the organizers of the MSZP in District XIII, and in 1990 he became a member of the board.

Mayor of 13th District of Budapest (1994-present)

József Tóth became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the

on 11th December 1994 as the candidate of the

, with 36.07% of the vote. As of the

2024 Hungarian local elections The 2024 Hungarian local elections were held on 9 June 2024. Mayors across the country were elected. Electoral system * Mayors of villages, towns, cities, the districts of Budapest and Budapest itself are directly elected in a one-round, firs ...

, this is the only time Tóth has won a mayoral term with less than 50% of the vote. He has won every single mayoral election in the 13th District since being elected in 1994. Most recently, he won an eighth term as mayor in the 2024 Hungarian local elections with 77.79% of the vote, with this being his second highest ever result in mayoral elections in the district. The 13th District has seen increased focus on the environment under József Tóth's mayorship, with thousands extra trees being planted in the district and extra green spaces and parks as part of the AngyalZÖLD strategy, which was first put in place in 2008, during his fourth mayoral term. Despite their diverging political views, József Tóth had a close relationship to former

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

Mayor of Budapest The Mayor of Budapest (, ) is the head of the General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary, elected directly for 5-year term since 2014 (previously municipal elections were held quadrennially). Until 1994 the mayor was elected by the General Assembly. ...

István Tarlós István Tarlós (; 26 May 1948) is a Hungarian politician who served as the mayor of Budapest from 2010 to 2019. He also served as the mayor of the 3rd district of the city (Óbuda-Békásmegyer) between 1990 and 2006 as an independent candidate ...

, who, in an October 2024 interview, called the mayor of the 13th District "one of the best district mayors in Budapest today – and has been for a long time."

References

1950 births Living people Mayors of places in Hungary Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Hungarian Socialist Party politicians 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) Politicians from Budapest {{Hungary-mayor-stub