TOP 09
Czech political party
title: "TOP 09" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["top-09", "political-parties-established-in-2009", "liberal-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "liberal-conservative-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "christian-democratic-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "member-parties-of-the-european-people's-party", "pro-european-political-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "kdu-čsl-breakaway-groups", "2009-establishments-in-the-czech-republic"] description: "Czech political party" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOP_09" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Czech political party ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox political party"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| colorcode | |
| logo | Logo of the TOP 09 (2021).svg |
| leader | Matěj Ondřej Havel |
| leader1_title | Deputy Leaders |
| leader1_name | Jiří Pospíšil |
| Ondřej Müller | |
| Kateřina Pastorková | |
| Marek Ženíšek | |
| Lukáš Otys | |
| leader2_title | Chamber of Deputies Leader |
| leader2_name | Jan Jakob |
| leader3_title | MEP Leader |
| leader3_name | Luděk Niedermayer |
| founders | Miroslav Kalousek |
| Karel Schwarzenberg | |
| foundation | |
| split | KDU–ČSL |
| headquarters | Opletalova 1603/57, Prague |
| ideology | {{ublist |
| Liberal conservatism{{refn | <ref name |
| Liberalism{{refn | {{cite web |
| Christian democracy{{cite web | url |
| {{cite web | last1 |
| position | Centre-right |
| membership_year | 2025 |
| membership | 1,864 |
| international | International Democracy Union |
| youth_wing | TOP Team |
| european | European People's Party |
| europarl | European People's Party Group |
| think_tank | TOPAZ |
| national | Spolu |
| seats1_title | Chamber of Deputies |
| seats1 | |
| seats2_title | Senate |
| seats2 | |
| seats3_title | European Parliament |
| seats3 | |
| seats4_title | Regional councils |
| seats4 | |
| seats5_title | Governors of the regions |
| seats5 | |
| seats6_title | Local councils |
| seats6 | |
| colours | |
| (customary) | |
| website | |
| country | the Czech Republic |
| :: |
| colorcode =
| logo = Logo of the TOP 09 (2021).svg
| leader = Matěj Ondřej Havel
| leader1_title = Deputy Leaders
| leader1_name = Jiří Pospíšil
Ondřej Müller
Kateřina Pastorková
Marek Ženíšek
Lukáš Otys
| leader2_title = Chamber of Deputies Leader
| leader2_name = Jan Jakob
| leader3_title = MEP Leader
| leader3_name = Luděk Niedermayer
| founders = Miroslav Kalousek
Karel Schwarzenberg
| foundation =
| split = KDU–ČSL
| headquarters = Opletalova 1603/57, Prague
| ideology = {{ublist|class = nowrap
| Liberal conservatism
| Liberalism
| Christian democracy
| Pro-Europeanism
| position = Centre-right
| membership_year = 2025
| membership = 1,864
| international = International Democracy Union
| youth_wing = TOP Team
| european = European People's Party
| europarl = European People's Party Group
| think_tank = TOPAZ
| national = Spolu
| seats1_title = Chamber of Deputies
| seats1 =
| seats2_title = Senate
| seats2 =
| seats3_title = European Parliament
| seats3 =
| seats4_title = Regional councils
| seats4 =
| seats5_title = Governors of the regions
| seats5 =
| seats6_title = Local councils
| seats6 =
| colours =
(customary)
| website =
| country = the Czech Republic
TOP 09 (, ) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Matěj Ondřej Havel. 9 of its members sit in the Chamber of Deputies, and two of them are MEPs.
History
Foundation and participation in government
The party was founded on 11 June 2009 by Miroslav Kalousek who left the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party. Its first leader was Karel Schwarzenberg, who had previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Topolánek 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.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Karel_Schwarzenberg.jpg" caption="[[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. The party joined the Nečas cabinet, forming a coalition with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and Public Affairs (VV).
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 and 16 December 2010). On 10 February 2011 TOP 09 was granted permission to join the EPP.
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
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 Tureček left the party and joined ANO, which left TOP 09 with 25 MPs. In May 2016, Pavol Lukša, one of founders of TOP 09, left the party and established a new party, Good Choice.
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.
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.
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. The party eventually received 5.3% of the vote, gaining 7 seats. Jiří Pospíšil became the new leader after the election.
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, Markéta Pekarová Adamová was elected party’s leader. In late 2020, TOP 09 formed an electoral alliance with KDU-ČSL and ODS called Spolu, to run in the 2021 elections. 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 Markéta Pekarová Adamová became President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.
On 20 November 2021, Pekarová Adamová was reelected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 163 out of 176 votes, being the only candidate.
On 11 November 2023, Pekarová Adamová was reelected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 142 out of 177 votes, being the only candidate.
On 8 November 2025, Matěj Ondřej Havel was elected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 120 out of 171 votes, being the only candidate.
Ideology
TOP 09 is characterised most prominently by its economic liberalism and its pro-Europeanism, being firmly in favour of European integration. 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.
Election results
Chamber of Deputies
::data[format=table]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Place | Position | 2010 | 2013 | 2017 | 2021 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karel Schwarzenberg | 873,833 | 16.7 | 3rd | |||||||||
| Karel Schwarzenberg | 596,357 | 12.0 | 15 | 4th | ||||||||
| Miroslav Kalousek | 268,811 | 5.3 | 19 | 8th | ||||||||
| Markéta Pekarová Adamová | 1,493,701 | 27.79 | 7 | 1st | ||||||||
| Part of SPOLU coalition, which won 71 seats in total | ||||||||||||
| Markéta Pekarová Adamová | 1,313,346 | 23.36 | 5 | 2nd | ||||||||
| Part of SPOLU coalition, which won 52 seats in total | ||||||||||||
| :: |
Senate
::data[format=table]
| Election | First round | Second round | Seats | Total seats | +/– | Votes | % | Place | Votes | % | Place | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 165,277 | 14.40 | 3rd | 51,310 | 7.54 | 3rd | New | |||||||||||||
| 57,907 | 6.59 | 5th | 9,918 | 1.93 | 5th | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 92,137 | 8.98 | 5th | 30,476 | 6.43 | 6th | ||||||||||||||
| 70,653 | 8.02 | 6th | 30,820 | 7.27 | 5th | ||||||||||||||
| 41,980 | 3.85 | 7th | 22,580 | 5.40 | 8th | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 46,575 | 4.67 | 7th | 33,938 | 7.51 | 4th | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 73,473 | 6.60 | 6th | 33,341 | 6.95 | 4th | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 44,320 | 5.59 | 5th | 17,457 | 4.47 | 4th | 1 | |||||||||||||
| :: |
Presidential
::data[format=table]
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | Votes | % | Result | Votes | % | Result | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOP 09}}" width="2px" | Karel Schwarzenberg | 1,204,195 | 23.40 | 2,241,171 | 45.20 | |||||||
| Independent (politician)}}" width="2px" | Jiří Drahoš | 1,369,601 | 26.60 | 2,701,206 | 48.63 | |||||||
| Independent (politician)}}" width="2px" | Petr Pavel | 1,975,056 | 35.40 | 3,358,926 | 58.33 | |||||||
| Independent (politician)}}" width="2px" | Danuše Nerudová | 777,080 | 13.93 | supported Petr Pavel | ||||||||
| Independent (politician)}}" width="2px" | Pavel Fischer | 376,705 | 6.75 | supported Petr Pavel | ||||||||
| :: |
European Parliament
::data[format=table]
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group | 2014 | 2019 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luděk Niedermayer | 241,747 | 15.95 (#2) | New | EPP | |||||
| Jiří Pospíšil | 276,220 | 11.65 (#4) | 1 | ||||||
| Alexandr Vondra | 661,250 | 22.27 (#2) | |||||||
| :: |
Regional councils
::data[format=table]
| Election | Vote | % | Seats | +/– | Position | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 175,089 | 6.6 | 5th | ||||||
| 86,164 | 3.4 | 9th | ||||||
| Party didn't run on a single list | 1 | 9th | ||||||
| :: |
Local elections
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Schwarzenberg_Kalousek_2017.jpg" caption="Former TOP09 leaders Karel von Schwarzenberg and Miroslav Kalousek"] ::
::data[format=table]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,537,461 | 9.5 | |||||
| 8,324,195 | 8.4 | |||||
| 1,241,976 | 4.8 | |||||
| :: |
Prague City Assembly
::data[format=table]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Status | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zdeněk Tůma | 1,043,008 | 30.2 | 25 | 1st | ||||||
| Tomáš Hudeček | 4,158,226 | 20.1 | 10 | 2nd | ||||||
| Jiří Pospíšil | 4,127,063 | 16.3 | 3 | 4th | ||||||
| :: |
Leaders
- Karel Schwarzenberg (2009–2015)
- Miroslav Kalousek (2015–2017)
- Jiří Pospíšil (2017–2019)
- Markéta Pekarová Adamová (2019–2025)
- Matěj Ondřej Havel (Since 2025)
Symbols
TOP 09 Teillogo.svg|Party logo 2009–2017 TOP 09 logo.svg|Party logo 2017–2021 Logo of the TOP 09 (2021).svg|Party logo 2021–present
Notes
References
References
- Zdenka Mansfeldová. (2013). "The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe". Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Nordsieck, Wolfram. (2017). "Czechia".
- (11 September 2011). "Kalousek se střetl s Dolejšem, večerní škola liberalismu stála proti marxismu-leninismu". Borgis.
- (15 April 2017). "TOP 09 opouštějí letité tváře, vadí jim liberální plány mladší generace". Mafra.
- (12 July 2017). "TOP 09 se dohodla na společné kandidátce s LES Martina Bursíka. Chtějí se poprat o liberální voliče". [[Economia]].
- (12 June 2018). "Silně konzervativní Chalánkovou vedení TOP 09 odmítlo. Navzdory Kalouskovi". Mafra.
- "Křesťanská politika".
- "Foreign Policy Centre: Articles and Briefings / Necas in a bind: The Eurozone fiscal compact and the Czech Republic".
- (2015). "Political Handbook of the World 2015". SAGE Publications.
- Maciej Stobinski. (2014). "Central Europe on the Threshold of the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges in Politics and Society". Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- (2016). "Political Communication and European Parliamentary Elections in Times of Crisis: Perspectives from Central and South-Eastern Europe". Palgrave Macmillan UK.
- Klausmann, Alexandra. (21 May 2010). "Tschechien: Jugend vereint gegen Linksparteien". [[Wiener Zeitung]].
- (11 June 2009). "Schwarzenberg to be Kalousek's Czech TOP 09 party leader". [[Czech News Agency]].
- [http://en.top09.cz/about-us/presidency/karel-schwarzenberg-1727.html "Karel Schwarzenberg"], TOP 09 party website, retrieved 7 June 2013
- (29 May 2010). "Official results of election to the Parliament of the Czech Republic 2010". Volby.cz.
- Sten Berglund. (2013). "The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe". Edward Elgar Publishing.
- (16 September 2010). "EPP welcomes European Council conclusions; Roma issue should not be exploited". Epp.eu.
- "EPP official website". Epp.eu.
- "TOP 09 členem nejsilnější evropské strany". TOP 09.
- (10 March 2016). "Turečka vyhodili z klubu TOP 09. Politika "Antibabiš" je mi cizí, říká". [[Mafra (company).
- "TOP 09 leading politician Lukša establishes new party".
- "Kalousek chce vědět, zda má pokračovat. Jeho TOP 09 ve volbách pohořela". Česká televize.
- "Třináctiletka TOP 09 počítá s internetovými volbami i zavedením eura". Borgis.
- (28 January 2017). "TOP 09 slibuje životní úroveň jako v Německu do 2030 a boj za střední třídu". [[Mafra (company).
- Novotný, Svatopluk. "SPOLEČNÉ TISKOVÉ PROHLÁŠENÍ politických subjektů: Koruna Česká (monarchistická strana Čech, Moravy a Slezska), Konzervativní strana a Klub angažovaných nestraníků - Koruna Česká - monarchistická strana Čech, Moravy a Slezska".
- "Viribus Unitis".
- Roubková, Janetta. (26 November 2017). "Nový předseda TOP 09 je Pospíšil, první místopředsedkyní Pekarová. 'Jdeme pracovat na komunálních volbách.'". irozhlas.cz.
- (24 November 2019). "Navzdory Kalouskovi. Novou předsedkyní TOP 09 je Pekarová Adamová". Borgis.
- (9 December 2020). "ODS, KDU-ČSL a TOP 09 jdou do voleb jako koalice SPOLU. Daly 17 slibů".
- Kopecký, Josef. (20 November 2021). "Pekarová obhájila post šéfky TOP 09. Chce pomoci Bělorusům svrhnout diktárora". [[Mafra (company).
- Danda, Oldřich. (11 November 2023). "Pekarová je staronovou šéfkou TOP 09. Nesmíme propadnout sebeklamu o své neomylnosti, říká". Borgis.
- (8 November 2025). "Matěj Ondřej Havel se stal novým šéfem TOP 09, jeho zástupcem je Pospíšil". [[Mafra (company).
- (2010). "The Czech Republic and the European Union". Routledge.
- Michal Klima. (2015). "Routledge Handbook of European Elections". Routledge.
- "Vyhledávání v repozitáři".
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