In October, 9 per cent of respondents said they preferred Mr Gyurcsány returning, this figure was 12 per cent in December. Socialist voters are perfectly divided in this matter: 48 per cent wish to see Mr Gyurcsány return while another 48 per cent oppose the idea.

On PM-candidate Attila Mesterházy - Having officially been nominated MSZP's Prime Minister candidate seems to be no help for parliamentary group leader Attila Mesterházy. While in November 5 per cent of respondents said they would vote for him of Hungary's PM were elected directly, this figure is 7 per cent in December. (In comparison: Fidesz-chairman Viktor Orbán would receive 36 per cent of all the votes cast in a direct election of the country's PM.)

No more "two big parties" - Compared with January 2009, Fidesz's popularity rose from 36 per cent of decided voters to 50 per cent while MSZP fell from 17 to 12. In the meantime, extreme rightwing Jobbik party reached 7 per cent by the end of the year (only 2 per cent of decided voters said they would vote for the party in January 2009). This means that the narrative of "two big parties" is no longer a political reality: the only big party is opposition Fidesz.

Sample and Method - The interviews were conducted between 7-9th December 2009 by telephone on a nationwide representative sample. N=1000. The margin of error is maximum plus or minus 3.2 percent, with different margins or error for subgroups.