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3,128 delegates in the 18th National Congress of the PP Plurality needed to win | |||||||||||||
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Opinion polls | |||||||||||||
Turnout | 2,659 (85.0%) (president) 2,658 (85.0%) (board) | ||||||||||||
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The 18th National Congress of the People's Party was held in Madrid from 10 to 12 February 2017, to renovate the governing bodies of the People's Party (PP) and establish the party's main lines of action and strategy for the next leadership term. [1] The congress was initially due for 2015, but the various elections held in Spain that year (local, regional and general) and the deadlock in the government formation negotiations leading up to the 2016 general election, as well as a major crisis over the issue within the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), saw the event being delayed until early 2017. [2] [3] [4]
The congress slogan was "Spain, forward" (Spanish : España, adelante). [5] [6] It was dubbed as a "quiet" congress for incumbent party president Mariano Rajoy, who was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in office with 95.7% of the delegate vote in the congress (2,530 votes) and 4.3% of blank ballots (115). [7] [8] It also saw the sidelining from party leadership positions of former supporters of José María Aznar, who had grown a vocal critic of Rajoy within the party in the previous years, [9] as well as the introduction of a primary system to elect the party president in future congresses; such system would see its first application in 2018. [10] [11] Other novelties included a reform of the party statutes that automatically granted to the party president the status of prime ministerial candidate in any Spanish general election held from that point onwards. [12]
The two-year delay in the congress's calling was brought to the courts by a party member, with the Supreme Court of Spain ruling it as unlawful in December 2020, as it "violated the plaintiff's right of association, in its aspect of the right of democratic participation in the party". [13]
The congress of the PP was the party's supreme body, and could be of either ordinary or extraordinary nature, depending on whether it was held following the natural end of its term or due to any other exceptional circumstances not linked to this event. Ordinary congresses were to be held every three years and called at least two months in advance of their celebration. Extraordinary congresses had to be called by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Directors at least one-and-a-half month in advance of their celebration, though in cases of "exceptional urgency" this deadline could be reduced to 30 days.
The president of the PP was the party's head and the person holding the party's political and legal representation, and presided over its board of directors and executive committee, which were the party's maximum directive, governing and administration bodies between congresses. The election of the PP president was based on an indirect system, with party members voting for delegates who would, in turn, elect the president. Any party member was eligible for the post of party president, on the condition that they were up to date with the payment of party fees and that they were able to secure the signed endorsements of at least 100 party members and of 20% of congress delegates. [14]
The key dates are listed below (all times are CET. Note that the Canary Islands use WET (UTC+0) instead): [15]
The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:
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.
Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Other /None | ![]() | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rajoy (Inc.) | Cifuentes | Feijóo | Santamaría | Casado | Cospedal | Margallo | Aguirre | Aznar | Gallardón | ||||||
SocioMétrica/El Español [p 1] | 22–29 Dec 2016 | ? | – | 1.9 | 26.7 | 41.2 | 6.7 | 5.7 | – | – | – | – | 4.2 | 13.6 | 14.5 |
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 2] [p 3] | 16–18 Feb 2016 | ? | – | 12.2 | 10.8 | 52.5 | 5.2 | – | 4.2 | – | – | – | – | 15.1 | 37.4 |
TNS Demoscopia [p 4] | 14–21 Nov 2013 | ? | 10.5 | – | 5.5 | 8.4 | – | 4.3 | – | 31.1 | 13.3 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 9.9 | 17.8 |
Intercampo/GETS [p 5] | 16 Sep–14 Oct 2013 | ? | 32.9 | – | 1.4 | 6.2 | – | 3.3 | – | 14.3 | 11.9 | 6.7 | 13.4 | 10.0 | 18.6 |
TNS Demoscopia [p 6] | 29–31 Jul 2013 | ? | 8.5 | – | 4.3 | 7.1 | – | 1.9 | – | 37.0 | 16.2 | 8.4 | 9.3 | 7.3 | 20.8 |
Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Other /None | ![]() | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rajoy (Inc.) | Cifuentes | Feijóo | Santamaría | Casado | Cospedal | Margallo | Aguirre | Aznar | Gallardón | ||||||
SocioMétrica/El Español [p 1] | 22–29 Dec 2016 | 800 | – | 11.0 | 8.9 | 33.2 | 4.3 | 2.4 | – | – | – | – | 12.5 | 27.7 | 22.2 |
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 2] [p 3] | 16–18 Feb 2016 | 1,000 | – | 14.6 | 8.2 | 33.6 | 5.1 | – | 2.5 | – | – | – | – | 36.0 | 19.0 |
TNS Demoscopia [p 4] [p 7] | 14–21 Nov 2013 | ? | 4.4 | – | 4.2 | 8.9 | – | 2.9 | – | 13.1 | 5.7 | 4.4 | 30.7 | 25.7 | 4.2 |
TNS Demoscopia [p 6] [p 7] | 29–31 Jul 2013 | ? | 3.6 | – | 3.3 | 7.6 | – | 1.1 | – | 15.8 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 27.5 | 26.3 | 7.9 |
Candidate | President | Board | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
Mariano Rajoy | 2,530 | 95.65 | 2,529 | 95.76 | |
Blank ballots | 115 | 4.35 | 112 | 4.24 | |
Total | 2,645 | 2,641 | |||
Valid votes | 2,645 | 99.47 | 2,641 | 99.36 | |
Invalid votes | 14 | 0.53 | 17 | 0.64 | |
Votes cast / turnout | 2,659 | 85.01 | 2,658 | 84.97 | |
Abstentions | 469 | 14.99 | 470 | 15.03 | |
Registered voters | 3,128 | 3,128 | |||
Sources [8] |
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