Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party

The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (Hungarian): Független Kisgazda-, Földmunkás- és Polgári Párt), often called FKgP or the Independent Smallholders' Party (Hungarian): Független Kisgazdapárt), is a political party based in Budapest, Hungary.

This party played an important role in helping create Hungary's democracy after World War II and during the formation of the Third Republic. After big changes in the government, the party was part of the ruling government for two periods: from 1990 to 1994 and again from 1998 to 2002.

However, since the 2002 parliamentary elections, the party has not been able to win any seats in the parliament. In 2021, official steps were started to close down the party because it did not get enough votes from people.

History

The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party was founded on October 12, 1930, after splitting from the Unity Party. It became one of the largest groups working against fascist rule in the 1930s and during World War II. The party stood up for farmers and the middle class, asking for fair land rules and a democratic government.

After World War II, the party won many votes and helped create a new government in Hungary. But over time, other groups tried to take control, making it hard for the party to lead. By 1949, the party was no longer able to operate freely. It came back during a big change in 1956 but was stopped again. After Communism ended in Hungary, the party returned and helped run the country for a few years. But in 2002, it lost its place in the government and has not returned since.

Party leaders

	Image	Name	Entered office	Left office		Image	Name	Entered office	Left office
1		Bálint Szijj	1930	1931	10		Tivadar Pártay	1988	1989
2		Gaszton Gaál	1931	1932	11		Vince Vörös	1989	1990
3		Tibor Eckhardt	1932	1940	12		Ferenc József Nagy	1990	1991
4		Zoltán Tildy	1940	1944	13		József Torgyán	1991	2002
5		István Balogh	1944	1945	14		Miklós Réti	2002	2005
6		Zoltán Tildy	1945	1946	15		Péter Hegedűs	2005	2017
7		Ferenc Nagy	1946	1947	16		Károly Balogh	2017	2018
8		István Dobi	1947	1949	17		Roland Hajdara	2018	2020
9		Béla Kovács	1956	1956	18		Károly Balogh	2020	2021

Election results

National Assembly

¹FKGP was a member of the Communist-led Hungarian Independence People's Front (MFN). Hungary became a one-party state after the 1949 election.

Election	Votes			Seats		Rank	Government	Leader
	#	%	±pp	#	+/−
1931	173,477	11.48%	–	10 / 245		4th	in opposition	Gaszton Gaál
1935	387,351	19.62%	8.14	22 / 245	12	2nd	in opposition	Tibor Eckhardt
1939	569,054	14,56%	5.06	14 / 260	8	3rd	in opposition	Tibor Eckhardt
1944	n/a	n/a	n/a	124 / 498	110	3rd	FKGP–MKP–MSZDP–NPP–PDP	n/a
1945	2,697,262	57.03%	42.47	245 / 409	121	1st	FKGP–MKP–MSZDP–NPP	Zoltán Tildy
1947	766,000	15.34%	41.69	68 / 411	177	2nd	MKP–FKGP–MSZDP–NPP(until 1948)	Lajos Dinnyés
							MDP–FKGP–NPP(from 1948)
19491	5,478,515	97.1%	81.76	62 / 402	6	1st	MFN (MDP–FKGP–NPP)	Mátyás Rákosi
1990	576,256	11.74%	–	44 / 386		3rd	MDF–FKGP–KDNP(until 1992)	Vince Vörös
							in opposition
1994	476,416	8.82%	2.92	26 / 386	18	4th	in opposition	József Torgyán
1998	617,740	13.78%	4.96	48 / 386	22	3rd	Fidesz–FKGP–MDF	József Torgyán
2002	42,338	0.75%	13.03	0 / 386	48	6th	extra-parliamentary	Miklós Réti
2006	838	0.02%	0.73	0 / 386	0	16th	extra-parliamentary	Péter Hegedűs
2010	381	0.01%	0.01	0 / 386	0	19th	extra-parliamentary	Péter Hegedűs
2014	7,426	0.16%	0.15	0 / 199	0	16th	extra-parliamentary	Péter Hegedűs
2018	1,580	0.03%	0.13	0 / 199	0	39th	extra-parliamentary	Károly Balogh