Party Analysis: TOP 09 (Czech Republic)
The Challenges of Liberal-Conservative Renewal in Czech Politics
TOP 09 (Tradice, Odpovědnost, Prosperita - Tradition, Responsibility, Prosperity) has long occupied a distinctive niche in Czech politics: economically liberal, socially conservative, and unapologetically pro-European in a political environment increasingly shaped by populist scepticism toward Brussels. Founded in 2009, the party was for much of the 2010s a key pillar of the centre-right, often punching above its electoral weight through coalition-building and institutional influence. Yet by the mid-2020s, its position had become markedly more precarious.
In the October 2025 general election, TOP 09 returned just nine MPs as part of the SPOLU alliance alongside the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL). While SPOLU collectively secured 23.4 per cent of the vote and 52 seats, this represented a sharp reversal from its 2021 victory and left TOP 09 with barely half its previous parliamentary presence. Post-election polling has been unforgiving: by December 2025, the party was registering just 3-4 per cent nationally, raising questions about whether it remains a durable political force or a diminishing adjunct to larger partners. Its predicament captures a broader tension within Czech democracy - between liberal-conservative stewardship and the populist reconfiguration of voter expectations.
Why TOP 09 Exists
TOP 09 emerged from crisis and fragmentation on the Czech centre-right in the wake of the 2008-09 global financial downturn. The collapse of confidence in the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), tarnished by corruption scandals and fiscal mismanagement, created space for a project that promised discipline, credibility, and moral renewal. That project was spearheaded by two unlikely but complementary figures: Karel Schwarzenberg, a patrician diplomat whose life story embodied European cosmopolitanism, and Miroslav Kalousek, a hard-nosed fiscal conservative with a reputation for austerity and administrative control.
Together, they fashioned a party that fused market liberalism with ethical conservatism and firm Atlanticism. TOP 09 positioned itself as a defender of the post-1989 settlement - open markets, Western alignment, and institutional restraint - against threats from both left-wing interventionism and right-wing populism. Its appeal lay less in mass mobilisation than in reassurance: to professional, urban voters who feared that corruption, nationalism, and democratic backsliding would squander the gains of the Velvet Revolution. From the outset, TOP 09 defined itself not as a protest movement, but as a corrective: an attempt to restore competence and responsibility to Czech governance.
What the Party Has Achieved
TOP 09’s early success was striking. In the 2010 election, it captured nearly 17 per cent of the vote and 41 seats, becoming a central actor in Petr Nečas’s centre-right government. Schwarzenberg’s tenure as foreign minister during the Eurozone crisis enhanced the party’s reputation for diplomatic seriousness, while Kalousek’s stewardship of public finances cemented its image as the guardian of fiscal orthodoxy.
Subsequent elections brought decline but not disappearance. The party remained in parliament in 2013 and survived a near-death experience in 2017, when it scraped past the electoral threshold amid the rise of Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement. Crucially, TOP 09 compensated for electoral weakness through coalition strategy. As part of the SPOLU alliance, it helped deliver the 2021 defeat of Babiš and returned to government under Petr Fiala, exercising influence disproportionate to its size.
During the 2021-25 parliamentary term, TOP 09 secured high-profile institutional roles (notably the speakership of the Chamber of Deputies) and shaped policy on foreign affairs, defence, and fiscal consolidation. It was a consistent advocate of support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, backed deficit reduction, and aligned Czech policy closely with EU and NATO priorities. Even as the governing coalition lost popularity amid inflation and economic strain, TOP 09 preserved its representation in the European Parliament in 2024. Yet the 2025 election made clear the limits of governing without a strong independent electoral base.
What Success Would Look Like
For TOP 09, success is no longer about dominance but survival with purpose. In the short term, it means stabilising support above the electoral threshold and retaining relevance within the fragmented centre-right. Rebuilding SPOLU into a credible alternative government by 2029 is essential, not only to counter ANO’s populist appeal but to prevent liberal conservatism from being eclipsed entirely.
More substantively, success would involve reclaiming ownership of a clear political role: as the Czech Republic’s most reliable pro-European anchor. This includes advocating deeper EU integration, euro adoption over the medium term, and sustained commitment to NATO and transatlantic security. Domestically, TOP 09 seeks to remain the custodian of fiscal restraint and institutional norms; less flashy than populist promises, but central to long-term governance.
Over the longer horizon, the party’s ambition is to reassert itself as the ethical and strategic conscience of the right: a party that trades mass appeal for credibility, and short-term popularity for policy continuity. Whether this vision resonates with a new generation of voters remains uncertain.
Electoral Rules and Strategic Constraints
The Czech electoral system both enables and constrains TOP 09. Proportional representation across 14 regional constituencies offers smaller parties a pathway into parliament, but the 5 per cent national threshold - and higher barriers for coalitions - penalises fragmentation and weak brand recognition. Open lists reward personal followings, benefiting TOP 09 in Prague and other urban centres, but leaving it exposed in rural regions where populist machines dominate.
Coalition politics have been both lifeline and liability. SPOLU has allowed TOP 09 to govern and to survive electoral downturns, but at the cost of blurred identity and voter confusion. In 2025, the alliance shielded the party from extinction while simultaneously underscoring its dependence on larger partners. In a system where no party governs alone, TOP 09’s future hinges on whether it can remain a pivotal broker rather than a dispensable junior ally.
How Critics See It
To its opponents, TOP 09 is emblematic of everything voters have grown weary of. Populists portray it as an aloof, urban elite - more attuned to Brussels than to domestic hardship - responsible for austerity, high living costs, and an unyielding commitment to foreign causes such as Ukraine. Andrej Babiš’s allies dismiss its anti-corruption campaigns as the reflexes of a declining establishment, while the far right frames its Atlanticism as a surrender of sovereignty.
Criticism also comes from within the broader liberal camp. Progressive parties accuse TOP 09 of social conservatism that sits uneasily with an increasingly secular electorate, while some centre-right allies view it as a drag on electoral competitiveness. Governing-era controversies have further eroded its moral high ground, reinforcing narratives that it offers rhetoric of responsibility without insulation from scandal.
How It May Be Remembered
TOP 09’s historical legacy will depend on whether it adapts or fades. If it manages to regenerate - embedding itself once again at the heart of a viable centre-right coalition and shaping Czech engagement with Europe - it may be remembered as a crucial stabiliser in a turbulent democratic era: a party that consistently defended liberal institutions when they came under pressure.
If, however, its support continues to erode, historians may judge TOP 09 more harshly - as a party whose principles were sound but whose constituency proved too narrow, and whose moment passed as Czech politics shifted toward populist pragmatism. In that reading, TOP 09 would stand as a symbol of post-1989 optimism: earnest, principled, and ultimately outpaced by the very electorate it sought to guide.
Either way, its trajectory illuminates a central dilemma for liberal-conservative parties across Europe: how to defend integration, restraint, and institutionalism in an age that increasingly rewards confrontation, simplicity, and spectacle.