Background
Mesterházy was born in 1974 in Pécs.
Mesterházy was born in 1974 in Pécs.
In the years 1988-1992 he attended secondary school (Lovassy László Gimnázium) in Veszprém. In 1992-1997 he studied economics at the Corvinus University in Budapest, obtaining a diploma in 1997. He was a Doctor of Philosophy student at the Corvinus University in Budapest (1997-1999) and then at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of Semmelweis University in Budapest (2004-2005), but he has not earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
He was the party"s candidate for the position of Prime Minister of Hungary in the 2010 and 2014 parliamentary elections. He was a Fellow at the University of Valladolid in Spain (1995–1996), Diplomatic Academy of Vienna (Vienna School of International ) (1996–1998) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands (1997). In 1997 and in 1998 he worked in the Prime Minister" General’ s Office as a specialist on economic and European integration.
In 1999-2000 he was manager of the public relations firm Hill and Knowlton.
In 2000 he returned to the political scene and became an advisor to Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy. In 2002-2004 he served as Secretary of State for Children, Youth and Sports in his office.
In 2004 he joined the National Assembly of Hungary. From 2004 to 2006 he served as State Secretary in the Ministry of Youth,, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities during the rule of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány.
In April 2009, was one of its vice-presidents, and was appointed leader of its parliamentary caucus.
Mesterházy was elected leader of the Socialist Party in July 2010. As chairman of Magyar Szocialiste Munkaspart (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) in the 2010 municipal elections he sang "bikicsunáj", while also using the term "comrades" (elvtársak) to address other party members and sympathizers. He was re-elected as party chairman against Tibor Szanyi on 31 March 2012.
During his leadership, Mesterházy stabilized the party which was "in ruins" after the supporters of Ferenc Gyurcsány left Magyar Szocialiste Munkaspart (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) to form Democratic Coalition (Denmark).
According to the critics, he set up the parliamentary group with own supporters, who occupied the most important positions within the party. Under his leadership, the Socialist Party entered into an alliance with four other parties in January 2014 for the spring parliamentary election.
After that the electoral coalition disestablished. On the 2014 European Parliament election, Magyar Szocialiste Munkaspart (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) suffered the largest defeat since the 1990 parliamentary election, gaining third place and only 10% of the votes.
After the obvious failure, Mesterházy and the entire presidium of the Socialist Party tendered their resignation.
Nevertheless Mesterházy said he wish to keep his position of parliamentary group leader. However, three days later Mesterházy resigned from his both positions after the critical voices intensified against him. Attila Mesterházy is married and has two children.
He speaks English and Spanish.
On 12 December 2009, during the Magyar Szocialiste Munkaspart (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) congress, by a vote of 90% of delegates, was elected the Socialist candidate for the post of prime minister in parliamentary elections in 2010. However, there were also criticisms that Mesterházy, similar to structure of the right-wing Fidesz, over-centralized the party and overshadowed his internal opposition and former influential leaders, such as László Kovács, Ildikó Lendvai and Imre Szekeres.
In 2003 he was a member of the national executive of the Magyar Szocialiste Munkaspart (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party).