Mayors and Independents (, STAN) is a liberal political party in the Czech Republic, focused on localism, regionalism and subsidiarity. It holds 20 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the third strongest party by number of seats following the 2025 election. In the Senate, STAN is represented by 19 Senators.

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 in national elections 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, , and acting leader Petr Gazdík.

In March 2014, , 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, , Vít Rakušan, (who was replaced by ) and .

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 The party's main focus is the promotion of the principle of subsidiarity. STAN supports localism, decentralization, reduction of bureaucracy, and anti-corruption measures, and its policy priorities include improving education and investing in science, supporting rural areas, and protecting nature. STAN strongly supports the introduction of the euro in the Czech Republic and deeper European integration. Some party members support the idea of a European federation, including former minister Martin Dvořák and the youth organization Young Mayors and Independents. The party supports the introduction of same-sex marriage in the Czech Republic.

Young Mayors and Independents

The party's youth wing, Young Mayors and Independents (; mSTAN), was founded in 2015. Its former leader Tomáš Pavelka was the youngest mayor in the Czech Republic in on his election in 2020. cooperated with Young Pirates in the campaign ahead of the 2021 Czech legislative election. Zdena Kašparová has been the chair of mSTAN since 2024.

Election results Chamber of Deputies Election Leader Vote % Seats ± Position Status 2010 Petr Gazdík 873,833 16.71 New 6th Ran on TOP 09 list, which won 41 seats in total 2013 Petr Gazdík 596,357 12.00 1 8th Ran on TOP 09 list, which won 26 seats in total 2017 Jan Farský 262,157 5.18 2 9th 2021 Vít Rakušan 839,448 15.61 27 3rd Part of the Pirates and Mayors coalition, which won 37 seats in total 2025 Vít Rakušan 631,512 11.23 11 3rd

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

Presidential Indirect elections Election Candidate First round Second round Third round Votes % Result Votes % Result Votes % Result 2008 Jan Švejnar 128 49.10 141 47.19 111 44.05 Direct elections Election Candidate First round Second round Votes % Result Votes % Result 2013 Karel Schwarzenberg 1,204,195 23.40 2,241,171 45.20 2018 Jiří Drahoš 1,369,601 26.60 2,701,206 48.63

European Parliament

Election List leader Votes % Seats +/− EP Group 2009 Jaromír Štětina 53,984 2.29 (#8) New − 2014 Luděk Niedermayer 241,747 15.95 (#2) 1EPP 2019 Jiří Pospíšil 276,220 11.65 (#4) 2024 Danuše Nerudová 258,431 8.70 (#5) 1

Regional councils

Election Vote % Seats +/– Position 2004Ran only in coalitions 1 10th 2008 53,462 1.83 13 5th 2012 28,763 1.09 24 5th 2016 101,696 4.02 18 6th 2020 167,459 6.04 35 4th 2024 326,632 13.71 2 3rd

Prague City Assembly Election Leader Coalition Seats +/– Position Status Parties Votes % 2014 Petr Štěpánek 2,323,976 11.2 2 8th 2018 Petr Hlaváček 4,127,063 16.3 2 6th 2022 1,831,696 7.8 1 5th

Leaders

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

Footnotes

External links Mayors and Independents official website