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The past 16 years under Viktor Orbán’s leadership have proved advantageous for several British political figures, including Tory peer David Frost and Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin and James Orr. These individuals have benefited from financial support extended by the Hungarian ruling Fidesz party, which promotes a self-styled "illiberal democracy" and has shown particular favor towards the harder right of British conservatism.
Budapest has annually allocated millions to think tanks and individuals linked to the populist right. However, Orbán’s overwhelming defeat this week now threatens to abruptly halt this support.
Changes are anticipated beyond funding cuts, affecting Hungary’s ambassador Ferenc Kumin, a long-time Orbán ally, and media operations established by his supporters, such as Remix News. This outlet provides English-language coverage that amplifies hard-right, anti-immigration narratives about life in Britain.
Frank Furedi, a British-Hungarian sociologist and former Marxist who has become a leading ideological figure for the new right, commented on the situation:
“We expect steps to be taken to try to deprive certain institutions of the funding they previously had and I think in some cases there will be attempts to close them down.”
Furedi heads MCC Brussels, a think tank almost entirely funded since its 2022 establishment by a grant from Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a conservative Hungarian educational institution financed by Orbán’s government.
The Collegium holds shares in MOL, a profitable Hungarian energy company that sources most of its oil from Russia. This connection has led to accusations that MCC Brussels and other branches effectively operate on Russian oil revenues.
British beneficiaries of MCC funding include the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation (RSLF), established in the name of the late philosopher Roger Scruton. Since 2023, RSLF has received over half a million pounds from MCC, accounting for more than 90% of its total funding.
The RSLF board, which describes itself as central to an international network of institutions and scholars dedicated to advancing Western philosophical and cultural achievements, includes former minister and influential Brexiter Michael Gove, as well as James Orr, one of Nigel Farage’s chief advisers.
Orr, a socially conservative academic at Cambridge University, is a key figure in the broader network that has evolved during Orbán’s tenure and is listed as one of MCC’s International guests.
Other individuals associated with MCC include Matt Goodwin, Reform UK’s losing candidate in Gorton, and Denton byelection candidate, who is also one of the Hungarian organisation’s "visiting fellows." According to leaked documents obtained by Direkt36, a Hungarian investigative outlet, such figures receive monthly payments ranging from €5,000 to €10,000 (£4,350 to £8,700). Reform UK has denied that Goodwin was paid €10,000 monthly.
Goodwin spoke at an event at MCC Scruton—a café and event space affiliated with MCC—the day after Orbán’s electoral defeat. Attendees, numbering around 18, described the event as somber.
Additional British figures have received funding from the Danube Institute, a Budapest think tank founded by John O’Sullivan, former speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher. Tens of thousands of pounds were provided in exchange for commitments to appear "regularly or at least twice a month" in British media. Lord Frost served as a visiting fellow until November last year.
Based on remarks from Hungary’s prime minister-elect, those in Britain and elsewhere who have relied on Budapest’s support will need to seek alternative sources. The prime minister-elect stated at a press conference:
“I believe the state should never have financed them in the first place,”
railing against the “mixing of party financing with government spending.”
Furedi added:
“If we’re deprived of our existing stream of funding, then we’ll just have to go out with a cap and raise money and find new ways of operating that are more economical, maybe have a leaner organisation. People are going to want to maintain their work and not just go up to fight.”
He insisted his organisation always had “total autonomy.”
Potential new funding sources might include corporate entities or international backers.
Marietta van der Tol, an assistant research professor at Cambridge and a close observer of Hungary in recent years, noted:
“There is the possibility that those think tanks and others beyond Hungary could look to the US. Its new national security strategy talked about cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”
She further observed:
“It’s not really clear yet who Péter Magyar is or what he wants. He’s a conservative who has come from Fidesz but he has talked about the transformation of the institutions, the economy, the media. Hungarians want regime change. Either way, those who have benefited from Orbán’s support are clearly worried.”
