Mayors and Independents

The Mayors and Independents (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, Gazdík was succeeded as leader of STAN by Martin Půta, governor of the Liberec Region, and 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.

Senate


1 By-election in Zlín district.

2 By-election in Trutnov district.

3 By-election in Prague-9 district.

Regional election
1 Does not include coalitions

Leaders

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