Panel #9 - Does Péter Magyar Have a Woman Problem?

Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party is polling worse among women than men. As Fidesz tries to exploit this shortcoming, our panel discusses the implications.

In this edition of our panel series, regular contributors Lili Rutai, Gabriela Greilinger, and Hanna Fölsz discuss why Péter Magyar is polling worse among women than men, what the implications of this are, and how he can improve.

Péter Magyar and sausages. Source: Facebook

Polling shows that Péter Magyar and the Tisza party are doing notably better among men than women. What are the possible reasons for this?

Lili: I think it’s important to highlight that gender is not the only dividing factor in Magyar’s popularity, age definitely plays a role, and so does education, location, et cetera. As long as we don’t know the connections between these (including questions like do young and educated women vote for Magyar, or do middle-aged women of Budapest prefer Fidesz?) it’s difficult to be sure about the reasons. But I have three guesses.

One theory is that Magyar caters more towards men, with his macho-style and manly behaviour. Fidesz’ smear campaigns, including his ex-wife’s confession of alleged domestic violence; and Magyar’s own personal scandals, storming out of a TV studio and getting into a brawl in a Budapest club also alienated women more. The latter two can actually appeal to men.

Another reason could be that Magyar doesn’t really try to appeal to female voters with his policies. He has not touched on social topics like maternity care, or aid for victims of domestic violence. Fidesz, on the other hand, has been vocal about supporting parents, helping mothers reintegrate to the workplace, and has introduced a special retirement plan for women. The current government has a big focus on families, which is important for a lot of women, while Magyar’s attention is often on corruption, economic problems, and law of justice, which are less appealing to the average woman.

And finally, it’s also possible that women have simply not caught on. The mainstream political media is catered towards men (and largely produced by men) so they are more clued-up on current events, and perhaps feel more strongly about supporting Magyar. I think as we get closer to the election, his popularity among women will rise.

Gabriela: I absolutely agree with Lili’s points. First, Magyar’s campaign so far has largely focused on corruption, the state of the economy, democracy, the quality of life and so on. As far as I have followed it, he rarely talked about issues like gender equality and other topics particularly relevant to women, such as maternity leave or family policies. Particularly in terms of the latter, Fidesz frequently parades its “pro-family” policies that provide specific benefits to working women, which might appeal to Hungarian women.

Also, of course, the domestic abuse allegations against Magyar might have tarnished his reputation among women.

And, as mentioned before, he displays a rather questionable “macho-type” behaviour every now and again. He is also most favoured among under 29-year-olds. It’s probably not far-fetched to assume that this effect is also largely driven by young men, and that there might be some form of “masculinity” at play here, which is why (young) men more easily identify with and are more likely to support him.

Hanna: I agree that Magyar’s macho style of politics undoubtedly plays a role. In his speeches, he adopts an aggressive, conflict-driven rhetorical style that is distinctly masculine. The most high-profile and memorable stories about him often involve conflict, further reinforcing this image. On social media, his approach resembles influencer-like politics and among influencer archetypes, his style is closest to that of young, male fitness influencers who preach male confidence. His frequent selfies accompanying nearly every post also seem to resonate more with young men than women.

Hungarian politics has also been dominated by men until the recent emergence of high-profile female party leaders for DK and Momentum on the opposition side in recent years. Now, those female leaders have vaned in importance, giving way to what might seem like a battle of male egos. It’s understandable why many women might feel alienated as Hungarian politics has devolved into a battle between two brands of machismo—Orbán’s and Magyar’s.

It’s also important to note a key finding of political scientists studying gender and politics: women, on average, tend to be less politically engaged and active than men. They change their electoral preferences and participate in elections or protests significantly less frequently. This is particularly true for older women, who, according to polls, are the demographic most supportive of Orbán. In Hungary, where politics is such a masculine-dominated space, this effect may be even more pronounced.

What could Péter Magyar do to increase his support among female voters?

Gabriela: He will probably have to address women more directly in his proposed policies and programs and demonstrate how they are systematically disadvantaged by the Orbán regime and how Magyar would alleviate that. In a way, he would have to make a connection between the issues he repeatedly addresses, what he wants to improve in the country and how they would positively affect women.

Hanna: I think Péter Magyar needs to soften the personalism of his party and its style of politics by bringing more women into prominent roles. While Magyar and his party often highlight gender parity among their European Parliament and Budapest local council representatives when asked about their party’s ‘women issue’, simply having more women in the background is not enough. They need to be more visible and take on leading roles as key representatives of the party on certain issues. Women shouldn’t just appear as add-ons to Péter Magyar when it’s convenient or non-disruptive—they should be flag-bearers for specific policies and at certain rallies.

This is particularly important in policy areas where the Orbán regime has caused the most harm to women or stifled progress. By bringing women to leadership roles on these areas, Magyar’s party could present itself as not only inclusive but also as a strong advocate for the concerns and priorities of female voters.

Lili: I think he will have to address “women’s issues” such as abortion, equality at the workplace, and domestic violence. He will also have to include more women in his party, who have a voice (unlike the current members of his party in the European Parliament, of whom we know very little, therefore don’t have much influence on the population).

There has been a lot of talk internationally about men becoming more right-wing than women. Péter Magyar’s relative unpopularity among women seems to suggest the opposite happening in Hungary. Are Hungarian women more right-wing than average or is this just due to the special political situation in Hungary?

Lili: I think that’s a misconception. The same polls that revealed Magyar’s voter’s demographics showed that the far-right Our Homeland party is far more popular among men.

One interesting twist is that the current right-wing government’s family policies are similar to what we traditionally associate with the political left: increasing state support in childcare, various options for parental leave and overall support for families. These principles are definitely important for a lot of women - so in a way, women can vote for the left-leaning principles of a right-wing party.

Gabriela: From what I’ve heard about this, it is actually more so that women are becoming more liberal while men remain relatively stable in their attitudes. But, setting that aside, let’s also not forget that Tisza is also not left-wing – and maybe that is one part of the story. In terms of actual policies, Magyar doesn’t provide a more liberal, left-wing alternative to Fidesz - and this goes for both his attitudes towards typical socio-cultural issues and economic ones. Magyar is perhaps only a less corrupt and more democratic alternative.

I also think age could play a role here. As far as I’ve seen, older women are particularly supportive of the Orbán regime. If we assume that younger women might be less interested in politics and, therefore, are less likely to have a party preference, then that could also in part explain the lack of support among women for Magyar.

Hanna: I agree with Gabriella that the key thing here is that Tisza is also a moderate-conservative party. As such, the gender difference between Fidesz and Tisza is not a reflection of innately right-wing preferences held by women. Anyway, I also believe that Our Homeland party is the most relevant comparison to international trends here, and this indeed shows disproportionate support by men than women.

Rather, I think it reflects Hungary’s unique political dynamics. Fidesz has effectively monopolized the issues on family policies including tangible benefits like parental leave and childcare subsidies. These policies resonate strongly with many women. At the same time, Tisza's challenges on FIdesz has not been on 'women's issues' such as abortion access, discrimination against women in the labor market, or women’s underrepresentation in leadership roles in Fidesz.

Are the differences significant enough to damage his election chances?

Lili: Currently, women make up 52% of Hungary’s population, but they are set to live longer, so in the long term, Magyar will definitely have to gain their trust. I don’t necessarily think the gender gap in his voting base will damage his chances significantly: we’ve seen Trump win the election with a larger male voting base!

Hanna: I believe a failure to expand support among women on the countryside outside Budapest could cost Tisza the election. Given Hungary’s electoral system, Tisza will face its toughest battles in electoral districts outside Budapest, where every vote will count. Expanding support among women in the countryside could ultimately make all the difference. Of course, much remains uncertain with over a year to go until the election.

Gabriella: I think there is still a lot of time until the next election, so anything can happen. If Magyar adapts his strategy and rhetoric to appeal to women, he can still increase his support among this part of the population. What we also see in the data is that a large portion of women (up to 33%, according to one poll), do not have a preference for any party, a number that is much higher compared to men. So, one portion of Hungarian women might be less attached to a specific party, and perhaps update their party preferences later, only shortly before the election, or even decide more spontaneously whom to vote for.