25/05/2015
The regional election in Valencia on Sunday proved a disastrous one for the ruling PP party, whose vote collapsed dramatically and who will now find themselves in the unaccustomed role of opposition.
The party went into the election holding 55 of the 99 seats in the regional parliament, but from over 1.2 million the number of PP voters fell to only just over 650,000, leaving them with 31 seats. This is still the largest single total in the newly elected parliament, and is substantially higher than the main PSOE opposition party (23), but at the same time the number of votes taken by Compromís rose from 176,000 to 450,000, and the party will now have 19 representatives.
Each of the principal new parties, Podemos and Ciudadanos, will have 13 members, while the Esquerra Unida formation has almost been wiped off the political map of Valencia: having had five members of parliament for the last four years the party will not be represented from now on.
The carnage for the PP in the region was also reflected in the municipal election in the capital city of Valencia, where the PP government of Rita Barberá has been shown the door in no uncertain terms by the electorate. The number of votes received by the party fell from 208,000 in 2011 to only 105,000 this time round, and with only 10 of the 33 councillors there is no hope of an effective coalition being formed.
Instead, a coalition among the other parties will take power: these are Compromís (9 councillors), PSOE (5),C’s (6) and Valc (3), the latter being the local branch of Podemos. The C’s will almost certainly be excluded from this pact.
In the city of Alicante the PP vote was similarly decimated, falling from 75,000 in 2011 to 38,000 on Sunday. As a result only 8 PP councillors will be in opposition, as opposed to the 18 who formed a majority four years ago, with the other parties represented being PSOE, GA (Podemos) and C’s with 6 each and Compromís with 3.
The same story was repeated in numerous municipalities throughout the provinces of Valencia, Alicante and Castellón, perhaps providing a foretaste of what is to come in the general election later this year.
Across the whole of the Valencia Region 5,742 councillors were elected, the PP taking an absolute majority in 151 municipalities, the PSOE-PSV taking 123, Compromís 18, C’s 3 and EUPV-EV-ERPV-AS: AC 4.
This leaves 211 municipalities in which there is no clear majority and coalitions must be negotiated.
Number of councillors per party in the Valencia Region:
PP 2.215
P.S.V.-P.S.O.E. 1.832
COMPROMÍS 18 (3,32%) 722
C’s 223
EUPV-EV-ERPV-AS: AC 214
CET 14
UPyD 11
LVE 11
UPDN 8
CA 7
MOVIMIENTO RED 7
IxP 7
UpB 7
APCATRAL 6
UxL:AC 6
GA 6
AEA 6
LOS VERDES/ELS VERDS 5
TSV 5
SD’ALGINET 5
ERC-AM 5
ACC 5
UPM 5
CDP 5
AVI 5
ES 5
X MONTITXELVO 5
I-SANET 5
GENT DE GUARDAMAR 5
UCB 1 (0,18%) 5
CASTELLO-EN-MOVIMENT 4
P.OLIVA-CS 4
UxV 4
X.D.-C.P.J. 4
S.I. 4
A.I.S.A.B. 4
UPdN 4
G.I.P 4
IGr 4
JPA 4
TPL 4
IAF 4
TJA 4
AGRUPACIÓ PIC 4
AC.CE.DE 4
AEPZ 4
INICIATIVA PORTEÑA 3
ADNM 3
OTHERS 302
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