Two outgoing ministers fail to win lower house seats

Two ministers in the outgoing Czech cabinet have failed to win election to the Chamber of Deputies. Neither the Social Democrat minister of labour and social affairs, Michaela Marksová, nor the Christian Democrat minister of culture, Daniel Herman, won mandates in the general elections.

Jan Mládek, who was industry and trade minister for the Social Democrats until February, also failed to get in.

Meanwhile, the new Chamber of Deputies will get its youngest ever member with Dominik Feri of TOP 09. Mr. Feri, who was elected onto the council in Teplice at 18, is aged 21. The oldest fresly elected MP is his party colleague Karel Schwarzenberg, 79.

The average age of MPs in the new lower house will be 47.5 years, two years younger than in the outgoing one. The number of women in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies has risen by five to 44.