The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) held an extraordinary federal congress in Madrid from 26 to 27 July 2014, to renovate its governing bodies—including the post of secretary-general, which amounted to that of party leader. A primary election to elect the new party secretary-general was held on 13 July.
The congress was called by outgoing PSOE leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba after his party's poor results at the 2014 European Parliament election, garnering just 23% of the vote. Rubalcaba announced his intention not to run for either his party's leadership or for the 2015 Spanish general election.
Election system This Federal Congress was the first held at a national level in which all party members and affiliates (around 200,000) had the possibility to be consulted, several days before the Congress was held, about which person they wanted to become the new party leader. While not a legally binding ballot, the results were likely to be respected by the 1,000 party delegates which finally elected the new party's Secretary-General. Party members wishing to contend the election were required to gather the endorsement of at least 5% of the party membership before June 27.
Background The 2011 general election had resulted in a landslide victory for Mariano Rajoy's People's Party (PP), a result of the financial crisis which had been hurting the country's economy since 2008. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), amidst a climate of high unpopularity, was ousted from power with the worst election result since the first post-Francoist electoral process in 1977. Then prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had decided to stand down as PM candidate in early 2011 and as party leader once the quadrennial party congress due for early 2012 was held. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, PSOE candidate for the 2011 election and former Deputy Prime Minister, was elected new Secretary-General in a tight fight against former Minister of Defence Carme Chacón.
However, as the new Rajoy's government was forced to pass new austerity measures and spending cuts, including a harsh labor reform and a very austere state budget for 2012, the new Government's ratings plummeted in opinion polls as it met with widespread protests and two general strikes. Little over 6 months of government had seen support for the PP government plummet from 45% in the general election to 34% in mid-to late 2012 polls, the most support lost by a political party in its first months of government in the country's history.
However, despite the PP's falling ratings, the PSOE found itself unable to regain lost support, suffering from the memory on Zapatero's last government and his economic management, as well as the emergence of major corruption scandals in both parties, regarding possible illegal financing on both the People's Party and the Socialist Party regional government of Andalusia. A series of negative regional election results throughout 2012, coupled with an internal crisis in 2013 and the threat of rupture from the party's Catalonia partner, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), further weakened the PSOE, with Rubalcaba's leadership being put into question as his popularity ratings plummeted. The crisis was temporarily settled after the party's political conference in November 2013, with the question on the party's leadership being initially postponed for late 2014.
After the European Parliament election, 2014 culminated in a major election crash for the party, coupled with a spectacular rise in support for newly created Podemos party, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba announced his intention not to run as his party's candidate for the 2015 general election and to have the party hold an extraordinary Congress for July 2014.
Timetable The key dates are listed below:
26 May: Official announcement and census closure. 6–9 June: Communication of provisional census and period of correction of census incidents. 10 June: Communication of definitive census. 10–13 June: Presentation of pre-candidates. 13–28 June: Endorsement collection period (until 27 June) and provisional candidate proclamations. 29 June–2 July: Allegation and definitive candidate proclamations. 3–12 July: Information campaign. 13 July: Primary election (to elect the Secretary-General). 13–19 July: Provincial and insular congresses. Election of delegates and amendment period. 26–27 July: Extraordinary federal congress.
Candidates Candidate Notable positions Announced Proclaimed Candidates who met endorsement requirements and were officially proclaimed to contest the party congress. José Antonio Pérez Tapias(age ) Member of the Congress of Deputies for Granada 31 May 2014 Pedro Sánchez(age ) Member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid City Councillor of Madrid 12 June 2014 Eduardo Madina(age ) Secretary-General of the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the CongressMember of the PSOE Executive Commission Member of the Congress of Deputies for Biscay City Councillor of Sestao 13 June 2014 Failed to qualify Candidates who announced an intention to run, but failed to qualify due to not meeting endorsement requirements. Alberto Sotillos(age ) None 11 June 2014
Declined The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:
Carme Chacón (age ) — Member of the Congress of Deputies for Barcelona ; Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; Minister of Defence of Spain ; Minister of Housing of Spain ; Secretary of Culture of the PSOE ; First Vice President of the Congress of Deputies ; Secretary of Education, Universities, Culture and Research of the PSOE ; First Deputy Mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat ; City Councillor of Esplugues de Llobregat . Susana Díaz (age ) — President of the Regional Government of Andalusia ; Secretary-General of the PSOE–A ; Member of the Parliament of Andalusia for Seville ; Minister of the Presidency and Equality of Andalusia ; Secretary-General of the PSOE–A in the province of Seville ; Senator appointed by the Parliament of Andalusia ; Secretary of Organization of the PSOE–A ; Secretary of Organization of the PSOE–A in the province of Seville ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Seville ; Deputy Mayor for Human Resources in Seville ; City Councillor of Seville ; Secretary of Organization of the JSA . Emiliano García-Page (age ) — Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; Senator appointed by the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha ; Mayor of Toledo ; City Councillor of Toledo ; Secretary-General of the PSCM–PSOE in the province of Toledo ; Second Vice President of the Regional Government of Castilla–La Mancha ; Member of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha for Toledo ; Minister of Institutional Relations of Castilla–La Mancha ; Spokesperson of the Government of Castilla–La Mancha ; Spokesperson of the Socialist Group in the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha ; Minister of Social Welfare of Castilla–La Mancha ; Minister of Public Works of Castilla–La Mancha ; Deputy Mayor for Celebrations of Toledo . Patxi López (age ) — Member of the Basque Parliament for Álava ; Secretary of Political Relations of the PSOE ; Secretary-General of the PSE–EE (PSOE) ; Lehendakari ; Member of the Basque Parliament for Biscay ; Secretary-General of the PSE–EE (PSOE) in Biscay ; Secretary of Organization of the PSE–EE (PSOE) ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Biscay ; Secretary-General of the JSE–EGAZ . Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (age ) — Secretary-General of the PSOE ; Leader of the Opposition of Spain ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid ; Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain ; Spokesperson of the Government ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Cádiz ; Minister of the Interior of Spain ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Cantabria ; Spokesperson of the Socialist Parliamentary Group of the Congress ; Secretary of Communication of the PSOE ; Minister of the Presidency of Spain ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Toledo ; Minister of Education and Science of Spain ; Secretary of State of Education of Spain ; Secretary-General for Education of Spain ; Director-General for University Education of Spain .
Endorsements Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of at least 5% of party members.
+ Summary of candidate endorsement results Candidate Count Pedro Sánchez 41,338 20.86 54.05 Eduardo Madina 25,238 12.74 32.99 José Antonio Pérez Tapias 9,912 5.00 12.96 Alberto Sotillos colspan="3" Total 76,488 Valid endorsements 76,488 38.61 Not endorsing 121,635 61.39 Total members 198,123 Sources
Opinion polls Poll results are listed in the tables below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the candidate's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded. Polls show data gathered among PSOE voters/supporters as well as Spanish voters as a whole, but not among party members, who were the ones ultimately entitled to vote in the primary election.
PSOE voters Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Primary election 13 Jul 2014 – 36.0 48.3 15.0 – – – – – – – – 0.7 12.3 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 8–10 Jul 2014 500 – 34.8 31.5 10.6 – – – – – – – – – 23.1 3.3 NC Report/La Razón 6 Jul 2014? – 34.0 21.5 8.3 – – – – – – – – 24.4 12.2 12.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 30 Jun–3 Jul 2014 500 – 27.0 30.8 8.3 – – – – – – – – – 33.9 3.8 Metroscopia/El País 30 Jun–1 Jul 2014 121 – 40.0 27.0 12.0 – – – – – – – – – 21.0 13.0 Metroscopia/El País 25–26 Jun 2014 161 – 35.0 28.0 9.0 – – – – – – – – – 28.0 7.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 23–26 Jun 2014 500 – 35.1 18.8 6.7 3.7 – – – – – – – – 35.7 16.3 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 16–19 Jun 2014 500 – 35.5 16.7 6.2 4.7 – – – – – – – – 36.9 18.8 Metroscopia/El País 16–17 Jun 2014 159 – 43.0 24.0 6.0 – – – – – – – – – 27.0 19.0 GESOP/El Periódico 27–31 May 2014 1,000 – 22.0 4.4 – – 31.9 14.3 16.5 – – – – 2.2 8.8 9.9 NC Report/La Razón 26–31 May 2014 400 – 8.8 3.3 – – 9.5 15.3 4.8 3.8 – – – 8.3 46.2 5.8 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 28–30 May 2014? – 26.7 7.6 – – 24.8 20.0 – – – – – 9.5 7.7 1.9 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 26–28 Dec 2013? 5.3 15.9 – – – 28.7 16.1 13.0 2.8 – – – 1.9 16.4 12.6 TNS Demoscopia 14–21 Nov 2013? 15.1 18.3 – – – 27.1 7.3 24.8 0.3 – – – 3.2 3.9 2.3 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 12–14 Nov 2013? 13.8 13.7 – – – 27.2 15.6 9.2 2.9 – – – 3.8 13.9 11.6 GAD3/Antena 3 13 Nov 2013? 18.0 12.0 – – – 17.0 4.0 12.0 – 1.0 – – 36.0 1.0 NC Report/La Razón 10 Nov 2013? – – – – – 21.5 15.9 14.1 9.0 – – – 9.1 30.4 5.6 Intercampo/GETS 16 Sep–14 Oct 2013? 24.5 5.6 – – – 14.2 0.8 3.9 – – 15.6 – 41.4 7.8 8.9 Feedback/La Vanguardia 2–6 Sep 2013? 17.3 18.0 – – – 29.0 – 16.0 – – – – 19.7 11.0 TNS Demoscopia 29–31 Jul 2013? 14.1 22.0 – – – 24.6 1.1 21.0 0.2 – – – 8.9 8.1 2.6 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 8–10 May 2013? 11.5 19.4 – – – 25.0 – 8.9 0.6 2.5 – 4.2 11.7 16.4 5.6 MyWord/Cadena SER 2–8 May 2013? 12.5 22.4 – – – 22.9 0.5 7.7 0.9 5.5 – 3.9 5.5 18.2 0.5
Spanish voters