New Hungarian PM’s voters want action on climate and LGBTQ+ rights, poll finds

More than three-quarters of Hungarians who voted for Péter Magyar in last month’s election want his government to do more to address the climate crisis, and more than 70% want him to protect LGBTQ+ rights, a poll has found. Magyar’s opposition Tisza party won a supermajority in the vote, bringing an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. The new prime minister will be sworn in on Saturday, weeks after the results set off celebrations in Budapest and Brussels. Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s populist rightwing Fidesz party, has a conservative background and avoided any pronouncements on progressive issues on the campaign trail, possibly for fear of providing fodder for the estimated 80% of Hungary’s media that is controlled by Fidesz loyalists. However, a poll carried out in the days after the election and published on Thursday suggests that Tisza’s voter base leans progressive, hinting at the conflicting pressures facing the new government. People take part in the Pride march in Budapest on 28 June. Photograph: Rudolf Karancsi/AP About 77% of Tisza voters polled said they supported an ambitious climate policy, while 71% supported, or somewhat supported, the new government protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people, an area that experienced dramatic rollbacks under Orbán. Pawel Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations, which commissioned the polling, said: “That was my biggest surprise in this polling. …