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TOP 09

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Czech political party

TOP 09
LeaderMatej Ondrej Havel
Deputy LeadersJiri Pospisil
Ondrej Muller
Katerina Pastorkova
Marek Zenisek
Lukas Otys
Chamber of Deputies LeaderJan Jakob
MEP LeaderLudek Niedermayer
FoundersMiroslav Kalousek
Karel Schwarzenberg
Founded11 June 2009; 16 years ago (2009-06-11)
Split fromKDU-CSL[1]
HeadquartersOpletalova 1603/57, Prague
Think tankTOPAZ
Youth wingTOP Team
Membership (2025)1,864
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right[13]
National affiliationSpolu
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party Group
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union
Colours
(customary)
Chamber of Deputies
9 / 200
Senate
7 / 81
European Parliament
2 / 21
Regional councils
16 / 675
Governors of the regions
0 / 13
Local councils
428 / 61,892
Website
top09.cz

TOP 09 (Czech: Tradice Odpovednost Prosperita, lit. 'Tradition Responsibility Prosperity')[14] is a liberal-conservative[2][3][4][5] political party in the Czech Republic, led by Matej Ondrej Havel. 9 of its members sit in the Chamber of Deputies, and two of them are MEPs.

History

[edit]

Foundation and participation in government

[edit]

The party was founded on 11 June 2009 by Miroslav Kalousek who left the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party.[15] Its first leader was Karel Schwarzenberg, who had previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Topolanek cabinet from January 2007 to March 2009, having been nominated by the Green Party for the post, and who had been elected to the Senate in 2004 as nominee of the Freedom Union - Democratic Union (US-DEU) and Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) parties.[16][17]

Karel Schwarzenberg, Honorary chairman and former leader of TOP 09

In the 2010 parliamentary elections on 28-29 May 2010, TOP 09 received 16.7% of the vote and 41 seats, becoming the third largest party.[18] The party joined the Necas cabinet, forming a coalition with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and Public Affairs (VV).[19]

In September 2010 TOP 09 applied to join the European People's Party. Karel Schwarzenberg had already officially participated in two EPP summits (15 September[20] and 16 December 2010[21]). On 10 February 2011 TOP 09 was granted permission to join the EPP.[22]

In the 2013 parliamentary election on 25-26 October 2013, TOP 09 won 12% of the vote and 26 seats. The party became part of the parliamentary opposition to the Sobotka cabinet.

Opposition and cooperation with STAN and ODS

[edit]

In the 2014 European elections on 24 and 25 May 2014, TOP 09 reached second place nationally with 15.95% of the vote, electing 4 MEPs.

Karel Schwarzenberg left the position of leader in 2015. He was replaced by Miroslav Kalousek afterwards.

In March 2016, Karel Turecek left the party and joined ANO, which left TOP 09 with 25 MPs.[23] In May 2016, Pavol Luksa, one of founders of TOP 09, left the party and established a new party, Good Choice.[24]

The 2016 Czech regional elections were a major loss for TOP 09. The party gained only 19 seats and 3.4% of the vote. Miroslav Kalousek then considered resigning, but decided to remain the party's leader.[25]

In January 2017, TOP 09 introduced a new program called Vision 2030, in which it declared intentions to adopt the Euro, implement electronical voting, and increase health standards to Germany's level. TOP 09 also wanted to shorten the working week to 4 days. Miroslav Kalousek said he believed that TOP 09 would get over 10% in the upcoming legislative election even though recent opinion polls indicated that TOP 09 might not reach the 5% threshold.[26][27]

Ahead of the 2017 parliamentary elections, TOP 09 was endorsed by The Czech Crown, Conservative Party, Club of Committed Non-Party Members and Liberal-Environmental Party.[28][29] The party eventually received 5.3% of the vote, gaining 7 seats. Jiri Pospisil became the new leader after the election.[30]

In the next year municipal elections TOP 09 got only 1.1 per cent of the vote nationally. The best performance for the party was in the Prague City council elections, following which it joined a coalition with the Czech Pirate Party and Prague Together.

In November, 2019, Marketa Pekarova Adamova was elected party's leader.[31] In late 2020, TOP 09 formed an electoral alliance with KDU-CSL and ODS called Spolu, to run in the 2021 elections.[32] The alliance won the popular vote and formed a coalition with the Pirates and Mayors alliance. As a result of agreements made to form these alliances, TOP 09 leader Marketa Pekarova Adamova became President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.

On 20 November 2021, Pekarova Adamova was reelected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 163 out of 176 votes, being the only candidate.[33]

On 11 November 2023, Pekarova Adamova was reelected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 142 out of 177 votes, being the only candidate.[34]

On 8 November 2025, Matej Ondrej Havel was elected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 120 out of 171 votes, being the only candidate.[35]

Ideology

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TOP 09 is characterised most prominently by its economic liberalism and its pro-Europeanism,[36] being firmly in favour of European integration.[37] Generally, the party is considered to lean towards both liberal and conservative strains of right-of-centre thought, gradually becoming increasingly liberal compared to its official stance of conservatism.[38]

Election results

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Chamber of Deputies

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Election Leader Votes % Seats +/- Place Position
2010 Karel Schwarzenberg[a] 873,833 16.7
41 / 200
 3rd Coalition
2013 Karel Schwarzenberg[b] 596,357 12.0
26 / 200
 15 4th Opposition
2017 Miroslav Kalousek[c] 268,811 5.3
7 / 200
 19 8th Opposition
2021 Marketa Pekarova Adamova 1,493,701 27.79
14 / 200
 7 1st Coalition
Part of SPOLU coalition, which won 71 seats in total
2025 Marketa Pekarova Adamova 1,313,346 23.36
9 / 200
 5 2nd Opposition
Part of SPOLU coalition, which won 52 seats in total

Senate

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Election First round Second round Seats Total seats +/-
Votes % Place Votes % Place
2010 165,277 14.40 3rd 51,310 7.54 3rd
2 / 27
2 / 81
 New
2012 57,907 6.59 5th 9,918 1.93 5th
2 / 27
4 / 81
 2
2014 92,137 8.98 5th 30,476 6.43 6th
0 / 27
4 / 81
2016 70,653 8.02 6th 30,820 7.27 5th
2 / 27
4 / 81
2018 41,980 3.85 7th 22,580 5.40 8th
1 / 27
3 / 81
 1
2020 46,575 4.67 7th 33,938 7.51 4th
2 / 27
5 / 81
 2
2022 73,473 6.60 6th 33,341 6.95 4th
3 / 27
6 / 81
 1
2024 44,320 5.59 5th 17,457 4.47 4th
2 / 27
7 / 81
 1

Presidential

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Election Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Result Votes % Result
2013 Karel Schwarzenberg 1,204,195 23.40 Runner-up 2,241,171 45.20 Lost
2018 Jiri Drahos 1,369,601 26.60 Runner-up 2,701,206 48.63 Lost
2023[d] Petr Pavel 1,975,056 35.40 Winner 3,358,926 58.33 Won
Danuse Nerudova 777,080 13.93 Eliminated supported Petr Pavel
Pavel Fischer 376,705 6.75 Eliminated supported Petr Pavel

European Parliament

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Election List leader Votes % Seats +/- EP Group
2014[e] Ludek Niedermayer 241,747 15.95 (#2)
3 / 21
 New EPP
2019[f] Jiri Pospisil 276,220 11.65 (#4)
2 / 21
 1
2024[g] Alexandr Vondra 661,250 22.27 (#2)
2 / 21

Regional councils

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Election Vote % Seats +/- Position
2012 175,089 6.6
19 / 675
 5th
2016 86,164 3.4
19 / 675
 9th
2020[h] Party didn't run on a single list
20 / 675
 1 9th

Local elections

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Former TOP09 leaders Karel von Schwarzenberg and Miroslav Kalousek
Election Votes % Seats
2010 8,537,461 9.5
1,509 / 62,178
2014 8,324,195 8.4
726 / 62,300
2018 1,241,976 4.8
483 / 61,892

Prague City Assembly

[edit]
Election Leader Votes % Seats +/- Position Status
2010 Zdenek Tuma 1,043,008 30.2
26 / 65
 25 1st Coalition (2010-2013)
Minority (2013-2014)
2014 Tomas Hudecek 4,158,226 20.1
16 / 65
 10 2nd Opposition
2018 Jiri Pospisil 4,127,063 16.3
13 / 65
 3 4th Coalition

Leaders

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Symbols

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  • Party logo 2009-2017
  • Party logo 2017-2021
  • Party logo 2021-present

Notes

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  1. ^ With participation of STAN and SLK candidates on the party list.
  2. ^ With participation of STAN and SLK candidates on the party list.
  3. ^ With participation of KC, KONS, KAN and LES candidates on the party list.
  4. ^ The SPOLU coalition supported 3 independent candidates for this election.
  5. ^ Run in a joint list with STAN.
  6. ^ Run in a joint list with STAN, SZ and LES.
  7. ^ Run as part of the SPOLU coalition.
  8. ^ Including one member elected as a nominee of Mayors and Independents.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Zdenka Mansfeldova (2013). "The Czech Republic". In Sten Berglund; Joakim Ekman; Kevin Deegan-Krause; Terje Knutsen (eds.). The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-78254-588-0.
  2. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  3. ^ a b "Kalousek se stretl s Dolejsem, vecerni skola liberalismu stala proti marxismu-leninismu". Novinky.cz. Borgis. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b Maciej Stobinski (2014). "Twenty years of the Czech party system: 1992-2011". In Lucyna Czechowska; Krzysztof Olszewski (eds.). Central Europe on the Threshold of the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges in Politics and Society. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-4438-6483-1.
  5. ^ a b Otto Eibl; Michal Pink (2016). "Election Results, Candidate Lists and the Framing of Campaigns". In Ruxandra Boicu; Silvia Branea; Adriana Stefanel (eds.). Political Communication and European Parliamentary Elections in Times of Crisis: Perspectives from Central and South-Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-137-58591-2.
  6. ^ [2][3][4][5]
  7. ^ "TOP 09 opousteji letite tvare, vadi jim liberalni plany mladsi generace". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  8. ^ "TOP 09 se dohodla na spolecne kandidatce s LES Martina Bursika. Chteji se poprat o liberalni volice". Hospodarske noviny (in Czech). Economia. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Silne konzervativni Chalankovou vedeni TOP 09 odmitlo. Navzdory Kalouskovi". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  10. ^ [7][8][9]
  11. ^ "Krestanska politika". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  12. ^ Kejlova, Tamara; Jelinkova, Karolina (8 November 2025). "Novy predseda Havel chce z TOP 09 "hodnotovy majak"". CT24 (in Czech). Czech Television.
  13. ^ "Foreign Policy Centre: Articles and Briefings / Necas in a bind: The Eurozone fiscal compact and the Czech Republic". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  14. ^ Tom Lansford, ed. (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. p. 1660. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  15. ^ Klausmann, Alexandra (21 May 2010). "Tschechien: Jugend vereint gegen Linksparteien". Wiener Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.
  16. ^ "Schwarzenberg to be Kalousek's Czech TOP 09 party leader". Czech News Agency. 11 June 2009.
  17. ^ "Karel Schwarzenberg", TOP 09 party website, retrieved 7 June 2013
  18. ^ "Official results of election to the Parliament of the Czech Republic 2010". Volby.cz. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  19. ^ Sten Berglund (2013). The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 231-232. ISBN 978-1-78254-588-0.
  20. ^ "EPP welcomes European Council conclusions; Roma issue should not be exploited". Epp.eu. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  21. ^ "EPP official website". Epp.eu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  22. ^ "TOP 09 clenem nejsilnejsi evropske strany". TOP 09. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  23. ^ Kopecky, Josef (10 March 2016). "Turecka vyhodili z klubu TOP 09. Politika "Antibabis" je mi cizi, rika". iDNES.cz. Mafra. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  24. ^ "TOP 09 leading politician Luksa establishes new party". Prague Monitor. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  25. ^ "Kalousek chce vedet, zda ma pokracovat. Jeho TOP 09 ve volbach pohorela". CT24. Ceska televize. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  26. ^ "Trinactiletka TOP 09 pocita s internetovymi volbami i zavedenim eura". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  27. ^ "TOP 09 slibuje zivotni uroven jako v Nemecku do 2030 a boj za stredni tridu". iDNES.cz. Mafra. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  28. ^ Novotny, Svatopluk. "SPOLECNE TISKOVE PROHLASENI politickych subjektu: Koruna Ceska (monarchisticka strana Cech, Moravy a Slezska), Konzervativni strana a Klub angazovanych nestraniku - Koruna Ceska - monarchisticka strana Cech, Moravy a Slezska". Korunaceska.cz (Press release) (in Czech). Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  29. ^ "Viribus Unitis". Konzervativni strana (Press release). Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  30. ^ Roubkova, Janetta (26 November 2017). "Novy predseda TOP 09 je Pospisil, prvni mistopredsedkyni Pekarova. 'Jdeme pracovat na komunalnich volbach.'". irozhlas.cz. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  31. ^ "Navzdory Kalouskovi. Novou predsedkyni TOP 09 je Pekarova Adamova". Novinky.cz. Borgis. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  32. ^ "ODS, KDU-CSL a TOP 09 jdou do voleb jako koalice SPOLU. Daly 17 slibu". Seznam Zpravy. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  33. ^ Kopecky, Josef (20 November 2021). "Pekarova obhajila post sefky TOP 09. Chce pomoci Belorusum svrhnout diktarora". iDNES.cz. Mafra. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  34. ^ Danda, Oldrich (11 November 2023). "Pekarova je staronovou sefkou TOP 09. Nesmime propadnout sebeklamu o sve neomylnosti, rika". Novinky.cz. Borgis. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  35. ^ Kopecky, Josef; Hejl Hromkova, Dominika (8 November 2025). "Matej Ondrej Havel se stal novym sefem TOP 09, jeho zastupcem je Pospisil". iDNES.cz. Mafra. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  36. ^ Dan Marek; Michael Baun (2010). The Czech Republic and the European Union. Routledge. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-136-94098-9.
  37. ^ Michal Klima (2015). "Czech Republic". In Donatella M. Viola (ed.). Routledge Handbook of European Elections. Routledge. p. 554. ISBN 978-1-317-50363-7.
  38. ^ "Vyhledavani v repozitari". is.cuni.cz. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
[edit]
  • Bracketed numbers indicate numbers of seats in the respective chambers.
Chamber of Deputies
2025 (200 seats)
Senate
2024 (81 seats)
European Parliament
2024 (21 seats)
Regional Assemblies
2024 (675 seats)
Other parties
National parties
Member parties (EU)
Parliamentary group only
Associated parties (non-EU)
Observer parties
Presidents
European Parliament
Group Presidents
European Commissioners (2024-2029)
Heads of government
at the European Council