Marek Ženíšek

Marek Ženíšek (born 26 November 1978) He has been vice-chairman of TOP 09 since November 2025. He was vice-chairman of TOP 09 between 2009 and 2019, and first vice-chairman from 2015 to 2017. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2017, and again from 2021, and has served as Deputy Minister of Justice (2008-2011)

Early life and education Ženíšek was born in Plzeň on 26 November 1978. He graduated from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň (now the Faculty of Arts) and the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague.

Political career Early career From 2005 to 2009, Ženíšek was a member of the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-ČSL). At the municipal elections in 2006, he was elected as a representative in one of the city districts of Plzeň, holding the mandate until 2010. In 2007, he began working at the Ministry of Justice, from 2008 as Deputy Minister.

At the beginning of 2012, Ženíšek was appointed First Deputy Minister of Health by Leoš Heger, dealing mainly with the economic management of the ministry and its directly managed organizations. He was involved in the beginning of the long-term project to reform psychiatry in the Czech Republic. He resigned as First Deputy Minister of Health following the inauguration of Jiří Rusnok's government on 1 August 2013, saying he could not imagine continuing at the ministry while also vice-chairman of TOP 09.

Parliamentary career In the 2013 parliamentary election, Ženíšek was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as the lead candidate for TOP 09 in the Plzeň Region. In November 2015, at the fourth TOP 09 National Assembly in Prague, he was elected the party's first vice-chairman, receiving 124 votes out of 173 delegates (72%), and replacing Miroslav Kalousek, who became the party's chairman. He was again top of the TOP 09 list at the 2017 parliamentary election, but was not re-elected. At the end of November 2017, he was elected TOP 09 vice-chairman, and was replaced by Markéta Pekarová Adamová as the party's first vice-chairman.

During the 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Ženíšek ran as a member of TOP 09 in sixth place on the candidate list "Mayors (STAN) with regional partners and TOP 09", but was not elected. In November 2019, he stood unsuccessfully for re-election as vice-chairman of TOP 09.

In regional elections in 2020, Ženíšek was elected to the Plzeň Regional Assembly as a member of TOP 09, on the list for the "Civic Democratic Party with the support of TOP 09 and independent mayors" group. On 12 November 2020, he became a regional councillor of the Plzeň Region with responsibility for culture and monument care.

In the 2021 Czech parliamentary election, Ženíšek was elected on the list of the Spolu coalition of ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 in the Plzeň Region.

Personal life Ženíšek is married and has a son. His leisure interests include reading, sports and traveling.