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TOP 09
Leader	Markéta Pekarová Adamová
Deputy Leaders	Vlastimil Válek Tomáš Czernin Matěj Ondřej Havel Michal Kučera Martina Ochodnická
Chamber of Deputies Leader	Jan Jakob
MEP Leader	Luděk Niedermayer
Founders	Miroslav Kalousek Karel Schwarzenberg
Founded	11 June 2009; 15 years ago (2009-06-11)
Split from	KDU–ČSL
Headquarters	Opletalova 1603/57, Prague
Think tank	TOPAZ
Youth wing	TOP Team
Membership (2021)	2,481
Ideology	Liberal conservatism Liberalism Christian democracy
Political position	Centre-right
National affiliation	SPOLU
European affiliation	European People's Party
European Parliament group	European People's Party
International affiliation	International Democracy Union
Colours	(customary)
Chamber of Deputies	14 / 200
Senate	7 / 81
European Parliament	2 / 21
Regional councils	16 / 675
Governors of the regions	0 / 13
Local councils	483 / 61,892
Website
www.top09.cz
Politics of the Czech Republic Political parties Elections

TOP 09 (Czech: Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit. 'Tradition Responsibility Prosperity') is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. 14 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.

In the 2010 parliament 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 legislative 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 2011, 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 in Czechia 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.

Ideology

TOP 09 is characterised most prominently by its fiscal conservatism 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

Below are charts of the results that the TOP09 has secured in the Chamber of Deputies, Senate, European Parliament, and regional assemblies at each election.

Chamber of Deputies

Year	Leader	Vote	Vote %	Seats	+/−	Place	Position
2010	Karel Schwarzenberg	873,833	16.7	41 / 200		3rd	Coalition
2013	Karel Schwarzenberg	596,357	12.0	26 / 200	15	4th	Opposition
2017	Miroslav Kalousek	268,811	5.3	7 / 200	19	8th	Opposition
2021	Markéta Pekarová Adamová	1,493,701	27.79	14 / 200	7	1st	Coalition
	Part of SPOLU coalition, which won 71 seats in total

Senate

Election	First round			Second round			Seats	Total seats	+/-
	Votes	%	Places	Votes	%	Places
2010	165,277	14.40	3rd	51,310	7.54	3rd	2 / 27	2 / 81	New
2011	2,053	7.51	4th				0 / 1	2 / 81
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	0
2014	2,055	15.55	3rd				0 / 1	4 / 81	0
2016	70,653	8.02	6th	30,820	7.27	5th	2 / 27	4 / 81	0
2018	7,615	33.51	1st	30,331	67.11	1st	1 / 1	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

Notes:
By-election in Kladno district.
By-election in Prague 10 district
By-election in Trutnov district. TOP 09 supported a STAN candidate Jan Sobotka.

Presidential

1. The SPOLU coalition supported 3 independent candidates for this election.

European Parliament

Election	List leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	EP Group
2014	Luděk Niedermayer	241,747	15.95 (#2)	3 / 21	New	EPP
2019	Jiří Pospíšil	276,220	11.65 (#4)	2 / 21	1
2024	Alexandr Vondra	661,250	22.27 (#2)	2 / 21	0

1. Run in a joint list with STAN.
2. Run in a joint list with STAN, SZ and LES.
3. Run as part of the SPOLU coalition.

Local election

Prague municipal elections

Year	Leader	Vote	Vote %	Seats	+/−	Place	Position
2010	Zdeněk Tůma	1,043,008	30.2	26 / 65		1st	Opposition (2010–2013)
2014	Tomáš Hudeček	4,158,226	20.1	16 / 65	10	2nd	Opposition
2018	Jiří Pospíšil	4,127,063	16.3	13 / 65	3	4th	Coalition

Regional election

Year	Vote	Vote %	Seats	+/-	Place	Note
2012	175,089	6.6	19 / 675		5th
2016	86,164	3.4	19 / 675		9th
2020			20 / 675	1	9th

2020 Czech regional election results

Region	Coalition partner	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	Seats			Governance
				#	±	Position
Central Bohemian	Greens and Voice	24,650	5.89	2 / 65	3	5th	STAN–ODS–Pirates–TOP 09+Greens-Voice
South Bohemian	KDU-ČSL	20,798	10.45	3 / 55		7th	ODS–KDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ČSSD–JIH12
Plzeň	ODS	36,890	21.23	2 / 45	1	7th	ODS+TOP 09–STAN–Pirates
Karlovy Vary	STAN	11,700	14.66	1 / 45		10th	STAN+TOP 09-Pirates-ODS+KDU ČSL-Local movements
Ústí nad Labem	Greens and SNK ED	12,220	6.11	1 / 55	1	8th	ANO–ODS–TOP 09+Greens
Liberec	KDU-ČSL	5,328	3.83	—		7th	Mayors for Liberec Region–Pirates–ODS
Hradec Králové	Hradec Králové Democratic Club	13,891	7.84	1 / 45	3	10th	ODS+STAN+VČ–KDU-ČSL–Pirates–TOP 09+HDK
Pardubice	ODS	23,434	14.10	2 / 45	2	8th	ČSSD–ODS+TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–STAN
Vysočina	KAN and Czech Crown	7,972	4.99	—		8th	ODS+STO–Pirates–KDU-ČSL–ČSSD–STAN
South Moravian	Greens	24,039	6.62	4 / 65	1	6th	KDU-ČSL–Pirates–ODS–STAN
Olomouc	KDU-ČSL and Greens	34,519	18.43	2 / 55	2	7th	STAN+Pirates–KDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ODS
Zlín	STAN	24,396	12.69	1 / 45	1	10th	ANO–Pirates–ODS–ČSSD
Moravian-Silesian	ODS	43,637	13.84	1 / 65	1	7th	ANO–ODS+TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–ČSSD

Leaders

• Karel Schwarzenberg (2009–2015)
• Miroslav Kalousek (2015–2017)
• Jiří Pospíšil (2017–2019)
• Markéta Pekarová Adamová (Since 2019)

Symbols

• Party logo 2009–2017
• Party logo 2017–present

Notes

1. Including one member elected as a nominee of Mayors and Independents

References

1. Zdenka Mansfeldová (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. "Členská základna ODS je větší než ČSSD, z mladých uskupení nejvíce roste SPD". ČT24 (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
3. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
4. ^ "Kalousek se střetl s Dolejšem, večerní škola liberalismu stála proti marxismu-leninismu". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
5. ^ 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.
6. ^ 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.
8. "TOP 09 opouštějí letité tváře, vadí jim liberální plány mladší generace". iDnes.cz (in Czech). 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
9. "TOP 09 se dohodla na společné kandidátce s LES Martina Bursíka. Chtějí se poprat o liberální voliče". ihned.cz (in Czech). 12 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
10. "Silně konzervativní Chalánkovou vedení TOP 09 odmítlo. Navzdory Kalouskovi". iDnes.cz (in Czech). 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
12. "Křesťanská politika". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
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 členem nejsilnější evropské strany". TOP 09. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
23. Kopecký, Josef (10 March 2016). "Turečka vyhodili z klubu TOP 09. Politika "Antibabiš" je mi cizí, říká". iDNES.cz. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
24. "TOP 09 leading politician Lukša establishes new party". Prague Monitor. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
25. "Kalousek chce vědět, zda má pokračovat. Jeho TOP 09 ve volbách pohořela". ČT24. Česká televize. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
26. "Třináctiletka TOP 09 počítá s internetovými volbami i zavedením eura". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 29 January 2017.
27. "TOP 09 slibuje životní úroveň jako v Německu do 2030 a boj za střední třídu". iDNES.cz. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
28. 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". Korunaceska.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 June 2017.
29. "Konzervativní strana: Viribus Unitis". Konzervativnistrana.cz. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
30. Roubková, Janetta (26 November 2017). "Nový předseda TOP 09 je Pospíšil, první místopředsedkyní Pekarová. 'Jdeme pracovat na komunálních volbách.'". irozhlas.cz. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
31. "Navzdory Kalouskovi. Novou předsedkyní TOP 09 je Pekarová Adamová". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
32. "ODS, KDU-ČSL a TOP 09 jdou do voleb jako koalice SPOLU. Daly 17 slibů". Seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
33. Kopecký, Josef (20 November 2021). "Pekarová obhájila post šéfky TOP 09. Chce pomoci Bělorusům svrhnout diktárora". iDnes.cz. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
34. Danda, Oldřich (11 November 2023). "Pekarová je staronovou šéfkou TOP 09. Nesmíme propadnout sebeklamu o své neomylnosti, říká". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
35. Dan Marek; Michael Baun (2010). The Czech Republic and the European Union. Routledge. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-136-94098-9.
36. Michal Klima (2015). "Czech Republic". In Donatella M. Viola (ed.). Routledge Handbook of European Elections. Routledge. p. 554. ISBN 978-1-317-50363-7.
37. "Vyhledávání v repozitáři". is.cuni.cz.
38. "Jmenné seznamy | volby.cz". volby.cz.
39. "Přehledně: Všechny kraje už mají vedení. Starostové a ODS získali čtyři hejtmany | Aktuálně.cz". Aktuálně.cz - Víte, co se právě děje. 19 November 2020.

External links

• Official website

v t e TOP 09
Leaders	Karel Schwarzenberg Miroslav Kalousek Jiří Pospíšil Markéta Pekarová Adamová
Leadership elections	2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023
Presidential candidates	Karel Schwarzenberg Pavel Fischer Petr Pavel Danuše Nerudová
Organisation	Chamber of Deputies Caucus TOP Team TOPAZ Caucus of Mayors and Ostravak
Alliances	European People's Party European People's Party Group International Democrat Union Spolu

v t e Political parties in the Czech Republic
Bracketed numbers indicate numbers of seats in the respective chambers.
Chamber of Deputies 2021 (200 seats)	SPOLU (71) Civic Democratic Party (34) KDU-ČSL (23) TOP 09 (14) ANO 2011 (71) PirStan (37) Mayors and Independents (33) Czech Pirate Party (4) Freedom and Direct Democracy (20) Independent (1)
Senate 2022 (81 seats)	ODS-TOP 09 (35) Civic Democratic Party (23) TOP 09 (6) Independents (2) Svobodní (1) Mayors for the Liberec Region (1) ProMOST (1) Tábor 2020 (1) STAN (19) Mayors and Independents (15) Mayors for Liberec Region (2) Ostravak (1) Marek Hilšer for Senate (1) KDU-ČSL (12) ForRegion (6) ANO 2011 (5) Social Democracy (1) SEN 21-Pirates (6) SEN 21 (3) Czech Pirate Party (2) Hradec Králové Democratic Club (1) Independents (2) Independents (1)
European Parliament 2024 (21 seats)	ANO 2011 (7) SPOLU (6) Civic Democratic Party (3) TOP 09 (2) KDU-ČSL (1) Přísaha (2) Stačilo! (2) Communist Party (1) SD-SN (1) Mayors and Independents (2) Czech Pirate Party (1) Freedom and Direct Democracy (1)
Regional Assemblies 2020 (675 seats)	ANO 2011 (178) Civic Democratic Party (99) Czech Pirate Party (99) Mayors and Independents (69) KDU-ČSL (53) Social Democracy (37) Freedom and Direct Democracy (35) Mayors for Liberec Region (22) TOP 09 (19) Communist Party (13) Green Party (6) SNK European Democrats (5) Others (40)
Other parties	Agrarian Democratic Party Alliance for the Future Alliance of National Forces Club of Committed Non-Party Members Conservative Party Czech National Social Party Czech Republic in First Place! Czech Sovereignty Democratic Party of Greens Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic Generation Movement Hlas Independents Koruna Česká Law, Respect, Expertise The Left Liberal Alliance of Independent Citizens Liberal-Environmental Party Moravané Moravian Land Movement Motorists for Themselves National Democracy Order of the Nation Party of Common Sense Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia Right Bloc Swiss Democracy United Democrats - Association of Independents Urza.cz Volt Czechia Workers' Party of Social Justice
Current electoral alliances	Alliance for the Independence of the Czech Republic Přísaha and Motorists Stačilo! SEN 21 and Volt
Sources Chamber of Deputies Senate Statistical Office Politics of the Czech Republic Politics portal List of political parties by country

• 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