# Mayors and Independents

The Mayors and Independents (Czech: Starostové a nezávislí, STAN) is a liberal political party in the Czech Republic, focused on localism, regionalism and subsidiarity. It holds 33 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the third strongest party by number of seats following the 2021 election. In the Czech Senate, the STAN group has 19 members.
The party grew out of four minor parties, including the Independent Mayors for the Region, and the liberal-conservative SNK European Democrats. Until 2016, the party cooperated with another liberal-conservative party, TOP 09. STAN contested the 2021 Czech parliamentary election as part of the coalition Pirates and Mayors with the Czech Pirate Party.

## History

STAN grew out of the Independent Mayors for the Region (Nezávislí starostové pro kraj; NSK), founded in 2004. In 2009, led by its first leader Petr Gazdík and deputy leader Stanislav Polčák, STAN started co-operating with the liberal-conservative TOP 09 at all levels, with Gazdík leading the TOP 09 and STAN parliamentary group. In the 2010 local elections, the party won 1,243 councillors, making it the sixth-largest party on local councils.
In 2013, the co-operation with TOP 09 ended at local and regional levels, and continued only in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. In the 2013 election to the Chamber of Deputies, STAN won five seats on the TOP 09 list: Jan Farský, Stanislav Polčák, Věra Kovářová, František Vácha and acting leader Petr Gazdík.
In March 2014, Martin Půta, governor of the Liberec Region, was unanimously elected leader of STAN, and Gazdík became the first deputy leader with Polčák as the second deputy. Running a joint list for the 2014 European Parliament election, STAN and TOP 09 received 15.95% of the vote and won four seats, one of which was taken by STAN's Stanislav Polčák. In 2016, Martin Půta was succeeded by Petr Gazdík, who led STAN into the regional and Senate elections. In the 2017 election to the Chamber of Deputies, STAN won six seats: Petr Gazdík, Jan Farský, Věra Kovářová, Vít Rakušan, Martin Půta (who was replaced by Petr Pavek) and Jana Krutáková.
In 2019 Vít Rakušan was elected as leader. In 2020 STAN won the Senate elections, taking 11 of the 27 seats contested. The party contested the 2021 Czech parliamentary election as part of the Pirates and Mayors coalition with the Czech Pirate Party. Thanks to preferential voting, STAN took most of the coalition's 37 seats, winning 33 and becoming the third strongest party in the Chamber of Deputies.

## Positions

In promoting the principle of subsidiarity, STAN encourages localism, decentralisation, reduced bureaucracy and anti-corruption measures. STAN also promotes European integration, improvements to education, and investment in science.

## Election results
### Chamber of Deputies

| Election | Leader | Coalition | Coalition | Coalition | Seats | +/– | Position | Status |
| Election | Leader | Parties | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Status |
| 2010 | Petr Gazdík | STAN–TOP 09–SLK | 873,833 | 16.71 | 5 / 200 | New | 6th | Coalition |
| 2013 | Petr Gazdík | STAN–TOP 09–SLK | 596,357 | 12.00 | 4 / 200 | 1 | 8th | Opposition |
| 2017 | Petr Gazdík | STAN–SLK–SKN ED | 262,157 | 5.18 | 6 / 200 | 2 | 9th | Opposition |
| 2021 | Vít Rakušan | STAN–Piráti | 839,448 | 15.61 | 33 / 200 | 27 | 3rd | Coalition |

### Senate

| Election | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Seats | Total seats | +/– |
| Election | Votes | % | Place | Votes | % | Place | Seats | Total seats | +/– |
| 2012 | 4,460 | 0.5 | 25th | | | | 0 / 27 | 0 / 81 | New |
| 2014 | 15,576 | 1.5 | 9th | 11,099 | 2.3 | 9th | 2 / 27 | 2 / 81 | 2 |
| 2016 | 43,234 | 4.9 | 7th | 25,389 | 6.0 | 6th | 3 / 27 | 5 / 81 | 3 |
| 2018 | 76,817 | 7.0 | 7th | 47,317 | 11.3 | 3rd | 5 / 27 | 11 / 81 | 5 |
| 2020 | 122,948 | 12.3 | 2nd | 104,538 | 23.1 | 1st | 11 / 27 | 19 / 81 | 7 |
| 2022 | 75,406 | 6.8 | 5th | 6,410 | 1.3 | 13th | 0 / 27 | 15 / 81 | 4 |
| 2024 | 87,734 | 11.1 | 3rd | 53,498 | 13.7 | 3rd | 5 / 27 | 15 / 81 | |

### Presidential
#### Indirect elections

| Election | Candidate | Candidate | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round |
| Election | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | Result | Votes | % | Result | Votes | % | Result |
| 2008 | | Jan Švejnar | 128 | 49.10 | Runner-up | 141 | 47.19 | Runner-up | 111 | 44.05 | Lost |

#### Direct elections

| Election | Candidate | Candidate | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round |
| Election | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | Result | Votes | % | Result |
| 2013 | | Karel Schwarzenberg | 1,204,195 | 23.40 | Runner-up | 2,241,171 | 45.20 | Lost |
| 2018 | | Jiří Drahoš | 1,369,601 | 26.60 | Runner-up | 2,701,206 | 48.63 | Lost |

### European Parliament

| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
| 2009 | Jaromír Štětina | 53,984 | 2.29 (#8) | 0 / 22 | New | − |
| 2014 | Luděk Niedermayer | 241,747 | 15.95 (#2) | 1 / 21 | 1 | EPP |
| 2019 | Jiří Pospíšil | 276,220 | 11.65 (#4) | 1 / 21 | | EPP |
| 2024 | Danuše Nerudová | 258,431 | 8.70 (#5) | 2 / 21 | 1 | EPP |
* ↑ Run in a joint list with Your Option.
* ↑ Run in a joint list with TOP 09.
* ↑ Run in a joint list with TOP 09, SZ and LES.
* ↑ Run in a joint list with Mayors for Liberec Region.

### Regional councils

| Election | Vote | % | Seats | +/– | Position |
| 2004 | Ran only in coalitions | Ran only in coalitions | 1 / 675 | 1 | 10th |
| 2008 | 53,462 | 1.83 | 14 / 675 | 13 | 5th |
| 2012 | 28,763 | 1.09 | 38 / 675 | 24 | 5th |
| 2016 | 101,696 | 4.02 | 56 / 675 | 18 | 6th |
| 2020 | 167,459 | 6.04 | 91 / 675 | 35 | 4th |

### Prague City Assembly

| Election | Leader | Coalition | Coalition | Coalition | Seats | +/– | Position | Status |
| Election | Leader | Parties | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Status |
| 2014 | Petr Štěpánek | STAN–KDU-ČSL–Zelení | 2,323,976 | 11.2 | 2 / 65 | 2 | 8th | Coalition |
| 2018 | Petr Hlaváček | STAN–TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–LES–SKN ED | 4,127,063 | 16.3 | 4 / 65 | 2 | 6th | Coalition |
| 2022 | Petr Hlaváček | — | 1,831,696 | 7.8 | 5 / 65 | 1 | 5th | Coalition |

## Leaders

* Josef Zicha (2005–2009)
* Petr Gazdík (2009–2014)
* Martin Půta (2014–2016)
* Petr Gazdík (2016–2019)
* Vít Rakušan (Since 2019)

## Footnotes

* ↑ "Členská základna ODS je větší než ČSSD, z mladých uskupení nejvíce roste SPD". ČT24 (in Czech). Czech Television. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
* 1 2 3 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
* ↑ "STAN zakládá vlastní think-tank!". i-star.cz (in Czech). 31 January 2019.
* ↑ "Babiš under fire after Commission audit published". Politico Europe. 25 April 2021.
* ↑ Zachová, Aneta (3 February 2021). "PM Babiš is slowly losing ground, opinion poll shows". Euractiv.
* ↑ "Table-Czech billionaire's ANO party wins big in election". Reuters. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
* ↑ "Difficult Coalition Negotiations Following ANO Landslide". BMI Research. 23 October 2017. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
* ↑ "Tschechische Regierung zerbricht unter Prager Korruptionsskandal". Euractiv (in German). 20 June 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
* ↑ "Staráme se o lidi, hlásí STAN s novým logem. Růžová má značit liberální směr". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
* ↑ "Čím dál tím liberálnější. STAN se pod vedením šéfa Rakušana přesunuli a ukotvili na mapě české politiky". Czech Radio (in Czech). 14 August 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
* ↑ Stephens, Jack (18 December 2021). "Who's Who In The New Czech Cabinet?". Brno Daily. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
* ↑ Peters, Ingo; Bakke, Elisabeth (2011). 20 Years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Transitions, State Break-Up and Democratic Politics in Central Europe and Germany. p. 241. ISBN 9783830527022.
* ↑ "Volby Do Obecních zastupitelstev ČR 2010". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
* ↑ "Starosty povede Půta, dostal sto procent hlasů". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
* ↑ "Volby do Evropského parlamentu konané na území České republiky ve dnech 23.05. – 24.05.2014". Volby.cz. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
* ↑ "Volby do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky konané ve dnech 20.10. – 21.10.2017 (promítnuto usnesení NSS)". Volby.cz. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
* ↑ "Rakušana zvolili předsedou STAN a dali mu stan". Novinky.cz (in Czech). 13 April 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
* ↑ Bureš, Milan. "Oslabení a zklamaní". Týdeník Respekt. Retrieved 23 October 2021.