Martin Baxa

Martin Baxa
Baxa in 2020
Minister of Culture
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 December 2021
Prime MinisterPetr Fiala
Preceded byLubomír Zaorálek
Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 October 2017
Mayor of Plzeň
In office
15 November 2018 – 17 January 2022
Preceded byMartin Zrzavecký [cs]
Succeeded byPavel Šindelář [cs]
In office
25 November 2010 – 6 November 2014
Preceded byPavel Rödl [cs]
Succeeded byMartin Zrzavecký
Personal details
Born (1975-09-16) 16 September 1975 (age 49)
Plzeň, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic)
Political partyODS
SpouseSimona Klečková
Alma materMasaryk University

Martin Baxa (born 16 September 1975) is a Czech politician who has served as the Czech Minister of Culture in Petr Fiala's Cabinet since December 2021. He has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since October 2017. He previously served as Mayor of Plzeň from 2010 to 2014, and again from 2018 to 2022.

Early life

Baxa was born in Plzeň in 1975. He studied at a local grammar school before attending Masaryk University from 1994 until 1999.[1] He later became a teacher at a grammar School in Plzeň.[2]

Political career

Early career in Plzeň

In the 1998 Czech municipal elections, Baxa ran for Plzeň City Council as a non-party member for the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA), but was not elected.[3]

He joined the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in 1999, and was elected to the Plzeň Municipal Assembly in 2002.[4] He was also a member of the Regional Council from 2004 until 2008.[1]

He led ODS into the municipal elections in Plzeň in 2010,[5] the only regional city where the party won that year.[6] As a result, Baxa became the youngest mayor in the city's history in November 2010.[7]

Baxa led ODS again in the 2014 Plzeň municipal election, in which the party was expected to lose heavily but eventually finished second behind ANO 2011.[8] ODS formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), KDU-ČSL, and Citizens Patriots, and Baxa switched roles with his first deputy mayor Martin Zrzavecký, who became the new mayor.[9]

Baxa also led ODS into regional elections in Plzeň in 2016, with the party finishing third and becoming part of the regional government. Baxa himself received the highest number of preferential votes.[10][11][12]

Chamber of Deputies

In the 2017 Czech parliamentary election, Baxa was ranked third on the ODS list for the Plzeň region, but moved to first after receiving 4,655 preference votes, and thus elected to the Chamber of Deputies.[13][14]

On 13 January 2018, Baxa was elected vice-chairman of ODS at a congress in Ostrava,[15][16] defending this post at subsequent ODS congresses in January 2020,[17] and April 2022.[18]

Baxa again led the ODS list for Plzeň City Council at the 2018 municipal elections, in which his party finished second and Baxa defended his seat.[19] After a coalition was formed of ODS, ANO 2011, TOP 09, and ČSSD were formed, Baxa replaced Martin Zrzavecký as Mayor.[20]

Ministerial career

In the 2021 Czech parliamentary election, Baxa led the SPOLU coalition's candidate list for the Plzeň Region as a member of ODS.[21] He was appointed as Minister of Culture in Petr Fiala's Cabinet on 17 December.[22] Upon his appointment, Baxa resigned as mayor of Plzeň in January 2022 and was replaced by Pavel Šindelář.[23]

In the 2022 Czech municipal elections, Baxa was re-elected on the ODS list for Plzeň council.[24]

Personal life

Baxa married his long-term partner Simona Klečková on 2 August 2015.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b "Mgr. Martin Baxa - životopis". Naši Politici (in Czech). Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. ^ Veselá, Dana (25 November 2010). "Plzeň už vede učitel Martin Baxa". Deník (in Czech). Prague: Vltava Labe Media. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 1998" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2002" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2010" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Jiná cesta než koalice s ČSSD nebyla". Cevro (in Czech). 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Plzeň povede Martin Baxa z ODS, nejmladší primátor v dějinách města". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Volby v Plzni těsně vyhrálo hnutí ANO, překvapením je úspěch ODS". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  9. ^ Beneš, Richard (6 November 2014). "Osmým porevolučním primátorem města Plzeň se stal sociální demokrat Martin Zrzavecký". Regionpodlupou.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Potvrzeno. Na hejtmanství nastupuje nová vláda čtyř stran bez hnutí ANO". iDNES.cz. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Volby v Plzeňském kraji vyhrálo hnutí ANO, nadmíru spokojená je i ODS". iDNES.cz. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Martin Baxa: ODS bude jednat jen se zkušenými stranami". Plzeňský deník (in Czech). 10 October 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  13. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2017" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Jen ANO a ODS si ze stávajících stran polepšily, ostatní jsou na tom hůř". Plzeň.cz (in Czech). 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Fiala na kongresu ODS obhájil mandát, nováčkem ve vedení je Baxa". Ceskenoviny.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Ve vedení ODS je nově poslanec Martin Baxa". Týden (in Czech). Prague: Empresa Media. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Fiala obhájil post předsedy ODS. Křeslo místopředsedy po Tošenovském dostal Vondra". Czech Radio (in Czech). 18 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Volba místopředsedů". ODS (in Czech). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 05.10. - 06.10.2018" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Plzeň povede v příštích čtyřech letech koalice ODS, ANO, TOP 09 a ČSSD". Czech Radio (in Czech). 16 October 2018.
  21. ^ "Kandidátní listina pro: Plzeňský kraj". Spolu (in Czech). 16 June 2021. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Zeman jmenoval novou vládu. Podívejte se na seznam těch, kteří povedou jednotlivá ministerstva". Czech Radio (in Czech). 17 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  23. ^ "Novým plzeňským primátorem je Šindelář". Novinky.cz (in Czech). 17 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  24. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí konané 23.09. – 24.09.2022". Czech Statistical Office (in Czech). Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  25. ^ Tolarová, Miroslava (2 August 2015). "Ženich Baxa zvládl i práci se sekyrou". Deník (in Czech). Vltava Labe Media. Retrieved 10 June 2017.