No 980 Monday 17th - Sunday 23rd July 2023
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PARTIDO POPUL AR TIPPED TO WIN SUNDAY’S NATIONAL ELECTION
hen you read this newspaper next Monday, 24 July, you will likely have woken up to a new Spain leader, that is if the opinion polls are to be believed, as the self-styled 'dull technocrat' Alberto Núñez Feijóo is heavily tipped to become the next Prime Minister of Spain.
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Going into Sunday’s elections, all of the polls give Feijóo’s Partido Popular Conservative Party a lead of about 9 points, 37% of the vote as compared to 28% for the ruling PSOE, led by the current PM, Pedro Sanchez. However, that would not be quite enough to gain an absolute majority, converting to between 153 and 155 seats in the 350-member lower house, with the PSOE winning between 104 and 106 seats. The polls also predict that the far-right Vox party would finish with 11.3% of the vote, between 28 and 30 seats, just in front of the far-left Sumar, which would finish in fourth position with 11.1% of the vote, between 27 and 29 seats. With a threshold of 176 required, if the results of the polls are correct, it means that the favoured right-wing coalition of the PP and Vox would, together, win up to 185 seats, enough to achieve an absolute majority. Vox has already reached coalition deals with the conservatives in dozens of cities and three autonomous regions Extremadura in the west, Valencia in the east and Castille and León, north of Madrid. In the Balearic Islands, Vox have also reached a pact with the PP but they have no positions in government. Now, it’s leader, Santiago Abascal, is looking for a share of national power.
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