Small-town conservative mayor hopes to oust Orban in Hungary's 2022 vote

FILE PHOTO: Opposition candidate for prime minister Peter Marki-Zay gestures as he speaks at the election headquarters after the opposition primary election in Budapest, Hungary, October 17, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

HODMEZOVASARHELY, Hungary (Reuters) - Peter Marki-Zay, the new leader of Hungary's opposition alliance, has done the maths: he needs to win over the young, the undecided, and disenchanted supporters of veteran Prime Minister Viktor Orban to secure victory in next year's election.

The 49-year-old Catholic conservative and father of seven knows it will be a tough task ousting Orban and his nationalist, socially conservative Fidesz party, which has won three consecutive parliamentary landslides in the past 12 years.