Wherever he appears in Hungary, people flock to him cheering. They ask to shake his hand and take selfies. They say things can't go on as they are, and that he is their great hope.

This man, whom some in Hungary worship like a new messiah, is Peter Magyar, a 44-year-old lawyer from Budapest and political newcomer. He could defeat the country's authoritarian long-term ruler, Viktor Orban, in the 2026 parliamentary elections.

Magyar looks youthful; he's usually seen wearing jeans, a white shirt and sneakers, and, according to the polls, he is currently the most popular politician in Hungary. He regularly manages to get hundreds of thousands of people to turn out and protest. For weeks now, he has been touring Hungary's towns and villages — unlike Orban, who boasts of being a "village boy" and a "street fighter" but is seldom seen on the streets.

Magyar's party Tisza (Respect and Freedom) is currently polling up to eight percentage points ahead of Orban's Fidesz (Federation of Young Democrats). While this doesn't mark the end of Orban's regime, one thing is clear: Many Hungarians are unhappy with their prime minister's corrupt, autocratic order, and want change.

Orban has been in power continuously since 2010. Until now, no one has even come close to creating the mood and desire for change that Magyar has achieved. As a political novice, how has he managed this feat?

Many Hungarians have been dissatisfied with Orban's regime for a long time. The prime minister and those in his circle of power primarily serve their own supporters, who make up about a third of the electorate. Tax breaks and other financial perks are tailored to benefit these people; they are the ones who get the administrative jobs and the government posts, and their companies are given public contracts. Everyone else, all those who are not part of the system, are scraping by or living in precarious circumstances.

Contrary to Orban's rhetoric that, in Hungary, everything is........

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