Gyári munkásokból parlamenti képviselők
Factory workers as Members of Parliament

In the limelight of political life in the last decade of the Kádár regime, according to MPs with a working-class background from the neighbourhood of Ózd

Summary/Abstract: We can have an interesting and complex image of those Members of Parliament in the Kádár regime who came from a working-class background, according to my two interviewees – namely Lászlóné Becsei and József Elek – and written sources. As MPs, they could reach the highest ranks in their political career while they were the representatives of their own social rank, the workers. They had only a few opportunities to take part in the government of the country. But occasionally they had the possibility to promote the development of the region they had come from, achieving minor results, as well as to help those citizens who turned to them for help. They have been especially proud of the latter, as well as of the honour of receiving such a possibility as simple workers. During their office as MPs, they did not give up their former mentality. They still regarded themselves as members of the worker community, and therefore they continued working in the factories, and this determined their self-image. In the decades after the end of their MP career, they could occasionally make use of their previous connections, but their private lives did not change considerably.

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