'He's a genius:' Viktor Orbán's career and the loyalty that persists after his defeat

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Before losing in an earthquake election on Sunday to bring an end to his 16-year rule, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the dominant force in Hungary's political life for two decades, commanding the loyalty and admiration of millions.

The European Union’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, he took a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired by the global far right today.

Though Orbán was defeated in a landslide by the center-right Tisza party and its leader, the pro-European reformer Péter Magyar, many of his followers still see him as one of the greatest leaders in Hungary's history, and he retains a significant base of support — more than 2.3 million people cast ballots for his nationalist-populist Fidesz party.

Standing out among Orbán's believers is Ákos Szilágyi, one of the prime minister's most prominent and visible backers. The 61-year-old Szilágyi is frequently seen in the front row of Orbán's rallies and marches, and has gained notoriety in Hungary for the colorful T-shirts he designed depicting Orbán as “the leader of Europe.”

“I'm not a Fidesz supporter ... I’m an Orbánist,” Szilágyi told The Associated Press in an interview in Budapest two days after the election. “Hungarians rarely get a man like him. You may love him or hate him, but I think everyone acknowledges that he’s a genius.”

Beloved by many older and more rural Hungarians and reviled by detractors, Orbán has emerged as the country's most consequential leader since its transition to democracy at the end of the Cold War.

Born in 1963, Orbán grew up in a modest household in rural Felcsút, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside Budapest. A gifted student and avid soccer fan, he studied law and later went to Oxford to study political science under a scholarship awarded by a foundation run by George Soros — the Hungarian-born financier that Orbán would later frame as the country's most sinister bogeyman.

In 1988, Orbán co-founded Fidesz, originally a liberal, anti-communist youth party. The following year as a 26-year-old law student, he gave a fiery speech before tens of thousands, demanding Soviet troops leave Hungary — a bold move during the waning days of the Communist era.

After first entering parliament in 1990 as head of the Fidesz caucus, he became one of Europe's youngest-ever prime ministers when he won a national election in 1998 at the age of 35. But as Hungary's political dynamics changed and other liberal parties emerged, he began steering Fidesz to the right, transforming it into a vehicle for increasingly nationalist conservatism.

Many observers view the election in 2002, when he lost to Hungary's Socialist party, as a turning point in Orbán's approach to power. Speaking to Fidesz members afterward, he set the agenda for major changes that he would introduce once back in office.

“We've only got to win once, but we've got to win big,” he said.

It took eight years of leading the opposition in parliament, but that big win finally came. Orbán rode discontent over the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis, as well as scandal and mismanagement by the Socialist government, to return as prime minister in 2010. Fidesz won a two-thirds majority in parliament.

It marked a turning point. With its overwhelming mandate, Fidesz set to work reshaping Hungary by unilaterally writing a new constitution, rerigging the electoral system and stacking the courts.

Meanwhile, Orbán began siphoning public contracts, largely financed by the EU, into companies owned by loyalists. Those loyalists in turn bought up hundreds of media outlets and forced others into closure. By the end of the decade, it was estimated that Fidesz and its allies controlled up to 80% of Hungary's private media market.

Using the power and resources of the state, Orbán also has transformed public media into a mouthpiece for his party, and spent billions on state-funded communication — billboards, ads and letters to households — to boost his narratives. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has called him a press freedom “predator.”

Despite the EU and international watchdogs sounding the alarm — the European Parliament declared Hungary an “electoral autocracy” in 2022 — Orbán's supporters praised him as a defender of Christian values and national sovereignty in the face of globalization, mass migration and what he describes as an oppressive EU.

Appearing to revel in disrupting EU decision-making, Orbán built border fences and enacted harsh immigration and asylum policies, casting migrants and refugees as part of a globalist ploy to "replace" Europe's white population.

Szilágyi, Orbán’s supporter, firmly agrees with his approach to immigration and to the EU, which he said has “completely strayed from its original principles.”

“They accuse Hungary of rejecting European values," he said of the EU, adding that the 27-nation bloc itself had "rejected every existing European value that has existed so far, and from which the Christian-based Europe grew.”

“That’s why I support Viktor Orbán. Because he was able to stand up to them. He succeeded so well that they’ve now politically beheaded him,” he said.

Orbán's government has frequently clashed with Brussels over corruption, media freedom, judicial independence and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. More recently, it has prevented EU efforts to support Ukraine and sanction Russia over its full-scale invasion.

The bloc has frozen billions in funding to Hungary over rule of law concerns. In response, Orbán has campaigned heavily against the EU, comparing it to the Soviet Union, which had dominated Hungary for more than four decades.

Orbán also has cultivated close ties with like-minded leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's made common cause with euroskeptic, far-right parties, predicting a “patriotic” takeover of EU institutions.

Among the more than a dozen custom T-shirts in Szilágyi's pro-Orbán collection, several depict the likenesses of Trump and Orbán, declaring them “peacemakers” and "leaders of the free world."

Szilágyi has been a regular attendee of the Hungarian iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, and in 2022 traveled to Dallas for the national CPAC event. He was also present in Washington in February for Trump's inaugural Board of Peace meeting.

Despite Orbán's historic loss, Szilágyi said, his conservative political community will continue to back him, even if he isn't sitting in the prime minister's chair.

“I say that the people will stand by Orbán, and if he needs them, they’ll be there for him,” he said.

FILE -Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to journalists during a news conference following an European People's Party meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, March 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

FILE -Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, right, arrives for a European Peoples Party, EPP meeting, ahead of an emergency EU heads of state summit on migration, in Brussels on Sept. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Francois Walschaerts, File)

FILE -Viktor Orban, chairman of the senior opposition party, the Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Alliance, right, speaks following the first round of the parliamentary elections in Hungary in Budapest, April 9, 2006. At left is deputy prime minister candidate of the Fidesz, Istvan Mikola. (AP Photo/MTI, Szilard Koszticsak, File)

FILE -New Hungarian Prime Minister Dr. Viktor Orban smiles at fellow teammates at the end of the first half of play during a scrimage played at the Hungarian Sports Club in Woodbridge, N. J., Oct. 10, 1998. (AP Photo/Michael J.Treola, File)

FILE -Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a panel discussion organised by publisher houses about 'Storm over Europe - the Ukraine war, the energy crisis and geopolitical challenges' in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber), File)

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III will present the U.K. government's legislative program to Parliament on Wednesday as uncertainty clouds the future of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership. Starmer on Tuesday defied calls for him to stand down, following a disastrous showing for his Labour Party in local and regional elections last week. Ahead of the King's Speech, he met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting, seen as one of his potential challengers, at his office in Downing Street.

Here's the latest:

Starmer and his wife, Victoria, left their official residence under a pelting of rain and pointed questions from the media as they headed to Parliament for the king’s speech.

The Starmers had no umbrellas as they left 10 Downing Street and walked a short distance to a waiting car.

Perhaps more unpleasant, though, were the questions coming from across the street.

“Will you resign Mr. Starmer? Are you just squatting in No. 10?,” a man yelled from the area where journalists gathered. “Prime minister, is your time up? Have you lost the country, Mr. Starmer?”

The Crown Regalia – the Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State – has arrived at the House of Lords ahead of the king’s speech.

The ancient symbols of royal authority come in their own carriage, Queen Alexandra’s State Coach,

The most famous symbol of the monarchy, the Imperial State Crown, will be worn by King Charles III during the state opening ceremony.

It contains 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, five rubies and more than 270 pearls, and weighs more than a kilogram.

Unions affiliated with the Labour Party called for a plan to be put in place to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Trade Union and Labour Organisation, a group of 11 unions, said the party could not “continue on its current path.”

“It’s clear that the prime minister will not lead Labour into the next election, and at some stage a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader,” the group said.

The King’s Speech dates back to at least the 15th century, and the traditions highlight that history.

The first event got underway early Wednesday when the Yeomen of the Guard — a group of ceremonial bodyguards who still wear traditional red and gold uniforms from the Tudor period — performed a symbolic “search” of the Houses of Parliament for explosives. The tradition is a reminder of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot in which Roman Catholic rebels tried to kill Protestant King James I by blowing up the building during the State Opening of Parliament.

The king will travel in a carriage, as one might expect. A separate coach carries the Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and Sword of State.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker goes to the palace as a symbolic hostage to ensure the king’s safe return. It is said the hostage is treated like royalty.

Starmer met privately Wednesday with a cabinet member who could challenge him for the leadership of the Labour Party.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting met for less than 20 minutes with Starmer at his 10 Downing Street residence.

Streeting is considered one of the top rivals as Starmer resists calls to step aside after the party’s disastrous showing in last week’s local elections across the U.K.

Streeting did not speak with reporters as he left the meeting.

The monarch traditionally travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament, a distance of less than a mile, in a horse-drawn carriage. He then dons the Imperial State Crown and the robe of state before leading a procession into the chamber of the unelected House of Lords.

A Lords official called Black Rod, named for the ebony rod he or she carries, then goes to the House of Commons to summon the chamber’s members to a joint sitting of Parliament. The doors to the Commons chamber are slammed in Black Rod’s face to symbolize the chamber’s independence from the monarchy, and they aren’t opened until Black Rod strikes the doors three times.

Once members of the Commons have crowded into the Lords’ chamber, the king delivers a speech written by the government and laying out its legislative program for the coming session of Parliament.

After the speech is read and the king leaves, the two houses of Parliament begin several days of debate on its contents.

At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said he took responsibility for the losses in last week’s elections but would fight on.

As Cabinet members left 10 Downing Street, some voiced their support for the embattled prime minister.

Works and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said nobody publicly challenged Starmer at the meeting, while Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the prime minister was showing “really steadfast leadership.”

Later, Starmer’s deputy David Lammy warned Labour lawmakers that the only beneficiary of the party’s “navel-gazing” is the populist right and the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, in particular.

“He has my full support, and what I say to colleagues is, look, let’s just step back,” he said. “Take a breath.”

On Tuesday, several junior ministers, some of whom were elected for the first time in Labour’s landslide election victory in July 2024, resigned and urged Starmer to do the same.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, minister of housing, communities and local government, was the first to quit, urging Starmer “to do the right thing for the country.”

She was followed by Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister and a prominent member of the Labour Party. In her resignation letter, she described Starmer as a “good man fundamentally” but unable to make bold changes.

Despite the party’s dominant win driving out the Conservatives after 14 years in power, Labour’s popularity has plunged and Starmer is getting much of the blame.

The reasons include a series of policy missteps, a perceived lack of vision on the prime minister’s part, a struggling British economy and questions over his judgment. Starmer’s choice of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has continued to haunt him.

Starmer insisted Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning as calls grew louder within his Labour Party for him to step down and some junior members of his government quit in protest.

Starmer’s future has become a hot topic over the past few feverish days following historic losses for the Labour Party in local elections last week, which if repeated in a national election that has to be held by 2029, would see it overwhelmingly ejected from power.

Though no Cabinet member has quit or publicly stated the prime minister should step aside for a change in leader, there’s growing speculation that the ambitious health secretary, Wes Streeting, will inform Starmer that his days are numbered when they meet on Wednesday.

Streeting has many supporters within the parliamentary party, including some of those who resigned from Starmer’s government on Tuesday, which stoked speculation that Starmer could suffer the fate of Boris Johnson in 2022 when dozens of ministers quit en masse and forced his departure.

The King’s Speech is part of the state opening of Parliament, a traditional set piece of the political calendar. Many of the expected proposals have been announced previously, raising questions over Starmer’s capacity to win over his doubters.

The speech is expected to include proposals to address the cost of living crisis, create a national wealth fund to stimulate private investment in public infrastructure and tighten rules for asylum seekers.

It may also include the government’s controversial proposal to abolish jury trials for some cases in England and Wales, lower the voting age to 16 and introduce a “duty of candor” for public officials, requiring them to tell the truth and cooperate with investigations.

Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office leaves 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting in London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat yet to his authority after a growing number of disaffected lawmakers called for him to step down.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

FILE - King Charles III looks up as he reads the King's Speech, during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords in London on July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool, File)

Britain's Health Secretary Wes Streeting arrives in Downing Street for a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, Wednesday, May 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets construction apprentices during a visit to London South Bank Technical College in London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)