Czech Pro-Western Opposition Retains Control of the Senate

Pro-Western opposition parties won big in the Czech Republic’s elections for a third of the seats in the Senate, Parliament’s upper house, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ruling coalition. The run-offs on October 16 and 17, 2026, followed a first round earlier in the month.

Twenty-seven of the Senate’s 81 seats were up for grabs. With almost all votes counted, the centrist ANO movement led by the populist billionaire Babiš failed to win a single seat, losing even the one it was defending. Opposition parties retained control, and candidates directly linked to them won 22 seats.

The Mayors and Independents party, known as STAN, won the most contested seats, taking ten of its 14 candidates, including two in the first round. The Civic Democrats gained ground, winning several seats, while the Christian Democrats and TOP 09 retained theirs. The Pirate Party lost its only seat, ending its representation in the chamber.

A first test for the government

The vote was the first electoral test for Babiš since he returned to power after a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in October 2025. He has formed a governing coalition with two small political groups whose agenda includes reducing support for Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies. Those coalition partners also came away empty-handed.

Parliament’s lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges. That gives the upper house a voice in some of the most consequential decisions a government can make.

What it means

The result is a setback for a government that had hoped to translate its lower-house majority into broader influence. It also keeps a pro-Western bloc in control of a chamber that can slow or shape controversial legislation, at a time when the direction of Czech foreign policy is being debated.

Turnout in the second round reached about 21 percent, the highest in years. Among the notable winners were a former army chief of staff and a historian, both backed by STAN, and the head of a piano manufacturer, who ran for the Civic Democrats and became the only woman elected to the Senate this year.

Reading the result

The Senate’s role is limited but real. It cannot bring down a government, but it can delay, amend and reject legislation, and it has a say in constitutional changes and the appointment of top judges. A chamber controlled by the opposition is therefore a brake rather than a barrier.

For Babiš, the defeat is a signal that the coalition’s first year has not won over enough voters, and that its sceptical posture toward Ukraine and parts of the EU agenda has not proved as popular as its leaders may have hoped. For the opposition, the result is a platform to keep those debates alive and to prepare for the contests to come. Turnout, though modest, was the highest in years, a detail that both sides will study closely. Babiš’s coalition still governs with a comfortable lower-house majority, but the Senate result shows its opponents are organised and that the next national contest is already taking shape.

Sources

The Associated Press, “Pro-Western opposition keeps control of Czech upper house”; Radio Prague International, “STAN and ODS win Czech Senate elections”; and ABC News, reporting on the result (October 17, 2026).