2010 Czech parliamentary election

2010 Czech parliamentary election

← 2006 28–29 May 2010 2013 →
All 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	62.55% (1.87pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jiří Paroubek Petr Nečas Karel Schwarzenberg Party ČSSD ODS TOP 09 Last election 32.32%, 74 seats 35.38%, 81 seats Did not exist Seats won 56 53 41 Seat change 18 28 New Popular vote 1,155,267 1,057,792 873,833 Percentage 22.09% 20.22% 16.71% Swing 10.23pp 15.16pp New   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Vojtěch Filip Radek John Party KSČM VV Last election 12.81%, 26 seats Did not exist Seats won 26 24 Seat change New Popular vote 589,765 569,127 Percentage 11.27% 10.88% Swing 1.54pp New
Result of election
Prime Minister before election Jan Fischer Independent Prime Minister after election Petr Nečas ODS

Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 28–29 May 2010 to elect the 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies.^[1] The elections had been expected to take place sometime before the end of 2009, but was postponed due to legal challenges.^[2] Before the election, the country had been governed by a caretaker administration headed by Jan Fischer.^[3] The Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) was the front-runner of the election and its leader Jiří Paroubek was the favourite to become the new Prime Minister.^[4][5][6]

ČSSD came first in the election, although they suffered significant losses in seats and the popular vote.^[7] The conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and TOP 09 followed in second and third, with the Communist Party finishing fourth. ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek resigned after the election, conceding that a conservative coalition government appeared likely due to the rise in support for two new right-wing parties: TOP 09 and Public Affairs (VV). In June, a centre-right coalition of ODS, TOP 09, and VV was formed, with Petr Nečas becoming the prime minister.