Martin Kupka

Martin Kupka
MP
Kupka in 2022
Leader of the Civic Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 January 2026
Preceded byPetr Fiala
Minister of Transport
In office
17 December 2021 – 15 December 2025
Prime MinisterPetr Fiala
Preceded byKarel Havlíček
Succeeded byIvan Bednárik
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 October 2017[note 1]
Mayor of Líbeznice
In office
15 November 2010 – 20 December 2021
Personal details
Born (1975-10-28) 28 October 1975[1]
Jilemnice, Czechoslovakia[1]
PartyODS
SpouseDana Kupková[2]
Alma materCharles University[3]
Websitehttps://www.martinkupka.eu/

Martin Kupka (born 28 October 1975) is a Czech politician, who has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) since 2017, and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since 2026. He served as Minister of Transport in the Cabinet of Petr Fiala from 2021 to 2025 and as mayor of Líbeznice from 2010 to 2021.[3]

Career

Mayor of Líbeznice (2010-2021)

Kupka joined the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in 2008 and was elected to Líbeznice council with the second highest number of preferential votes from its candidate list. ODS and its allies won 13 out of the 15 seats on the council, and agreed to nominate Kupka for mayor.[4] He was elected mayor in November 2010.[5]

In October 2011, when the Central Bohemian Region approved a plan to expand Vodochody Airport, despite protests from municipalities and experts,[6] Kupka called the decision "a betrayal". He also criticised a report by the EIA on the effects of possible expansion, saying that it did not address the concerns of the affected municipalities.[7] In the meantime, the Central Bohemian Regional Council revised its position on the expansion, and the regional leadership issued a negative opinion on the plan in 2013, which Kupka welcomed on behalf of the initiative.[8]

After his election, Kupka also worked to hasten the completion of the Líbeznice Bypass, but when the bypass was opened in July 2011,[9] he acknowledged that traffic problems remained, as drivers continued to drive through the center of the village.[10]

During the 2013 Czech parliamentary election, Kupka was placed 7th on the ODS candidate list for the Central Bohemian Region, having rejected the offer to be one of the party's lead candidates in the region.[11] He was not elected.

In the 2014 Czech municipal elections, he retained his position on Líbeznice municipal council, heading the ODS list.[12] As the party won the municipal elections with 72.48% of the vote and 11 seats, Kupka began a second term as mayor in November 2014.[13]

ODS leadership (since 2014)

At the 24th Congress of the Civic Democratic Party on 18 January 2014, Kupka was elected vice-chair of the party after receiving 291 votes.[14] He defended his post at the 27th ODS Congress in January 2016, receiving 343 votes from 463 delegates,[15] then again at the 28th ODS Congress in January 2018,[16] 29th Civic Democratic Congress in January 2020,[17] and 30th Congress in April 2022.[18]

2016—2020: Regional and parliamentary elections

In the 2016 Czech regional elections, Kupka was the leader of the ODS list in the Central Bohemian Region and became a regional assembly member.[19][20]

In the 2017 Czech parliamentary election, Kupka was included on the ODS list in the Central Bohemian Region.[9] However, according to the announced results, with 4.87% votes counted, he missed out on being moved from 31st place to the top of the list by a difference of just 104 votes, and was therefore not elected.[21] However, following a complaint from a voter to the Supreme Administrative Court, preferential votes for ODS candidates in approximately half the region were recounted,[22] and at a hearing on 19 November 2017, the court declared Kupka as an MP instead of Petr Bendl.[23] In the Chamber of Deputies, he served as vice-chair of the committee for public administration and regional development, with party colleagues Jakub Janda and Martin Baxa.[24]

In the 2018 Czech municipal election, Kupka defended his position as a representative in the municipality of Líbeznice, again heading the ODS candidate list.[25] In November, he became mayor of Líbeznice for a third term,[26] before resigning in December 2021 to become Czech Minister of Transport.

In the 2020 Czech regional elections, Kupka was the ODS lead candidate in the Central Bohemian Region.[27] He defended his mandate, with 13,434 preferential votes.[28] On 16 November, Kupka was appointed 1st Deputy Governor for Road Infrastructure.[29] He resigned from this position in January 2022 on becoming Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic.[30]

Minister of Transport

In the 2021 Czech parliamentary election, Kupka ran for ODS as the third placed candidate on the Spolu coalition's list in the Central Bohemian Region,[31] and eventually topped the list after receiving over 30,000 preference votes.[32] In November, Kupka was nominated as Minister of Transport in Petr Fiala's cabinet,[33] and appointed to the position the following month by President Miloš Zeman at Lány Castle.[34]

Leader of the Civic Democratic Party

In 2025, Kupka announced his candidacy for the leadership of ODS, and was elected as the party's 5th leader on 17 January 2026.[35]

Personal life

Kupka is married to Dana Kupková and has two children. He spends his free time cycling and skiing.[3]

An avid listener of classical music, Kupka organised the Winter Music Festival in Jilemnice under the banner of Musical Youth while he was student.[36] He was also a presenter on Classic FM radio.[37]

Controversy

After Pavel Kodym ended his first term as head of the Office for Access to Transport Infrastructure, Kupka sent the government a proposal for his reappointment, with effect from 16 February 2023.[38] This procedure was criticised by the lawyers of the anti-corruption movements Transparency International, Prague-based newspaper Oživení, and ANO MP Martin Kolovratník, and the trade union that had recently been established in the office.[39]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kupka was not initially declared elected as an MP, but after a complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court, he was declared as an MP on 19 November 2017, replacing Petr Bendl.

References

  1. 1 2 "Martin Kupka, mluvčí vlády". Government of the Czech Republic (in Czech). 28 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "VŠEM - Diskusní duely". Matematikavsem.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Starosta a místostarostové" (in Czech). Municipal Authority of Líbeznice. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Mluvčí Kupka bude starostou, Nečase vymění za kanalizaci v Líbeznicích". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 22 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "Starosta a bývalý mluvčí vlády Kupka: Premiér neměl radost, že odcházím". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 6 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Starosta Líbeznic Kupka: Rozhodnutí středočeských radních k vybudování letiště je podraz". kurzy.cz (in Czech). Prague: Mediafax. 10 October 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Letiště ve Vodochodech získalo kladný posudek EIA, okolní obce se brání". Krajské Listy (in Czech). 17 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Středočeský hejtman vyzval ministerstvo životního prostředí, aby zastavilo projekt rozšíření letiště ve Vodochodech". Official website of the Central Bohemian Region (in Czech). 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Líbeznice mají silniční obchvat, čekaly na něj 40 let". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). Economia. 29 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Je mi Ratha líto, trpí stihomamem, říká starosta, exmluvčí Nečase". Parlamentní Listy (in Czech). 15 February 2011.
  11. ↑ Bejšáková, Sandra (5 September 2013). "Rozhodlo až poslední kolo. Lídrem občanských demokratů bude Bendl". Deník (in Czech).
  12. ↑ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2014" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Ustavující zasedání ZO Líbeznice ze dne 05.11.2014". Libeznice (in Czech). 5 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Novým předsedou ODS je Petr Fiala, bude česká Thatcherová?". ČT24 (in Czech). Czech Television. 18 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "ODS: Předsednictvo občanských demokratů je kompletní". Official website of the Civic Democratic Party (in Czech). 16 January 2016.
  16. ↑ Karban, Pavel (13 January 2018). "Petr Fiala přesvědčivě obhájil post předsedy ODS". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 15 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Fiala obhájil post předsedy ODS. Křeslo místopředsedy po Tošenovském dostal Vondra". Czech Radio (in Czech). 18 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  18. ↑ "30. kongres Volba místopředsedů". Official website of the Civic Democratic Party (in Czech). 9 April 2022.
  19. ↑ "Lídrem středočeské ODS pro krajské volby bude Martin Kupka". Blesk (in Czech). Czech News Center. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "Volby do zastupitelstev krajů konané dne 7.10. – 8.10.2016" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "Volby do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky konané ve dnech 20.10. – 21.10.2017" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "Nejvyšší správní soud bude přepočítávat desítky tisíc preferenční hlasů". nssoud.cz (in Czech). 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  23. ↑ "Nejvyšší správní soud zjistil závažná pochybení při sčítání preferenčních hlasů – Mgr. Martin Kupka je zvoleným poslancem". nssoud.cz (in Czech). 19 November 2017. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  24. ↑ "Výbor pro veřejnou správu a regionální rozvoj" (in Czech). Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  25. ↑ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2018". volby.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  26. ↑ "Obec Líbeznic" (PDF). Libeznice (in Czech). Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  27. ↑ Stránský, Jan (25 May 2020). "Ve stínu koronaviru začíná zápas o hejtmanství. Bude kratší a na síti". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  28. ↑ "Volby do zastupitelstev krajů konané dne 2.10. – 3.10.2020" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 12 October 2020.
  29. ↑ "Potvrzeno. Středočeskou hejtmankou bude Pecková, prvním náměstkem Kupka". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  30. ↑ "Ve vedení Středočeského kraje končí Martin Kupka. Dnes rezignoval na pozici náměstka pro oblast silniční dopravy". kr-stredocesky.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  31. ↑ "Kandidátní listina pro: Středočeský kraj". Spolu Official Website (in Czech). Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  32. ↑ "Volby do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky konané ve dnech 8.10. – 9.10.2021" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  33. ↑ "Seznam ministrů. Podívejte se, kdo má usednout ve vládě Petra Fialy". Czech Radio (in Czech). 18 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  34. ↑ "Zeman jmenoval novou vládu. Podívejte se na seznam těch, kteří povedou jednotlivá ministerstva". Czech Radio (in Czech). 17 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  35. ↑ Grim, Jakub; Soukeníková, Eva; Tomášek, Vojtěch (17 January 2026). "Kupka porazil Ivana a je novým předsedou ODS. Exministr získal hlasy 62 procent delegátů". Czech Radio (in Czech). Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  36. ↑ Karlíkova, Barbora. "Hudební mládež a Mladá Smetanova Litomyšl". is.muni.cz (in Czech). Masaryk University: Faculty of Education.
  37. ↑ "Líbeznice povede vládní mluvčí Kupka. Je to můj domov, říká". Parlamentní Listy (in Czech). 2 November 2010.
  38. ↑ Valášek, Lukáš; Pšenička, Jiří; Jelínková, Adéla (29 May 2023). ""Nezákonné," napsal o injekci ČD do Bruselu. Ministr mu obratem zrušil úřad". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech).
  39. ↑ Valášek, Lukáš; Pšenička, Jiří; Jelínková, Adéla (30 May 2023). "Napsal do Bruselu, ministr mu zrušil úřad. Opozice žádá od Kupky vysvětlení". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech).
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