primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

was scheduled for Sunday, 26 June 2011, to elect the prime ministerial nominee of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) for the

next Spanish general election A General elections in Spain, general election will be held in Spain no later than Sunday, 22 August 2027, to elect the members of the 16th . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies will be up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Se ...

, at the time expected for early 2012. The primary process was triggered following the announcement on 2 April 2011 by PSOE leader

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

that he would not be running as the party's candidate for the post of

prime minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

in the next general election, initially scheduled for 2012, against the backdrop of the ongoing financial crisis affecting the country.

Deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, and

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Carme Chacón Carme Maria Chacón Piqueras (; March 13, 1971April 9, 2017) was a Spanish lawyer, lecturer and politician who was minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 in the cabinet led by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. A member of t ...

, were widely seen as the most likely contenders for the position. The PSOE's heavy defeats in the

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

and regional elections on 22 May 2011 prompted a party crisis, with some sectors demanding an extraordinary congress to be held to replace Zapatero. Chacón announced her withdrawal from the contest in order to allow the party to coalesce around Rubalcaba and prevent internal divisions that could damage both the party and government's standings ahead of the general election. As a result, the primaries were left uncontested and Rubalcaba was proclaimed candidate unopposed on 9 July 2011.

Background

The first experience in the

(PSOE) to elect a prime ministerial nominee through party primaries was in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, when

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Spani ...

, a former public works minister, defeated

Joaquín Almunia Joaquín Almunia Amann (born 17 June 1948) is a Spanish politician and former member of the European Commission. During his tenure in the two Barroso Commissions, he was European commissioner responsible for economic and monetary affairs (2004� ...

, then incumbent PSOE leader. However, Borrell withdrew his candidacy in 1999 over a

tax fraud Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trust (property), trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax au ...

scandal affecting two former aides, with Almunia then being appointed as candidate unopposed; he would go on to lose the

2000 Spanish general election A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 12 March 2000, to elect the members of the 7th . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. At four years since the previous election, ...

, which the People's Party (PP) won by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

. Another primary process in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

saw PSOE leader

being elected unopposed, and in 2007, with Zapatero as the incumbent prime minister, no primaries were organized. The impact of the Great Recession in Spain and the adoption of a harsh

austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...

agenda had seen the ruling PSOE plummet in popularity, with the party suffering defeats in the 2009 European Parliament and 2010 Catalan elections while lagging behind the opposition PP under

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (, ; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...

opinion polls An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of que ...

. A possible decision by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero not to seek re-election became the focus of political debate by 2010, with Zapatero himself refusing to publicly confirm or deny the speculation. This would last until 2 April 2011, when he announced his decision not to run for a third term in the next general election, initially scheduled for March 2012. In his speech, Zapatero called for his successor to be elected through a

, in order to avoid a situation mirrorring

's rushed selection in the 1997 party congress, though regional PSOE leaders were not supportive of this procedure. Immediately following this announcement,

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and

were considered as the favourites. Following the PSOE's heavy defeat in the

and regional elections of 22 May 2011, regional Basque and Extremaduran PSOE leaders, Patxi López and Guillermo Fernández Vara, called for the cancellation of the primaries and the convening of an extraordinary party congress to replace Zapatero and define a new political program. Both Zapatero and the party's deputy secretary-general, José Blanco, rejected this notion and assured that the primary election process would go ahead. Concurrently, Chacón's supporters called for the primaries to be delayed in order for its political effect to "not go down after the summer", whereas several sectors within the party called for a "consensus candidacy" under Rubalcaba while adding pressure on Chacón not to run. Chacón ultimately withdrew on 26 May, confirming that she had intended to run but was stepping back for the sake of "party unity, Zapatero's image and the government's stability". This paved the way for Rubalcaba to become the sole major candidate.

Overview

Procedure

Following its 2000 congress, the PSOE approved a party regulation governing public offices that included the election of candidates through a closed primary system. Primaries were established as mandatory to elect prime ministerial nominees, except when the party already held the office of prime minister, in which case a primary election would only be held if explicitly requested by a majority of members in the federal committee. The primary election was organized on the basis of

plurality voting Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected. Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member ...

. Voting comprised all members of the PSOE—including its regional branches—and the

Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (, PSC–PSOE) is a social democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping, led by Josep Pallach i Carolà, the Socia ...

(PSC). Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of either at least 10% of party members (which for the 2011 prime ministerial primary amounted to 21,872 endorsements), the federal committee as a body or a majority of members in the federal executive commission. In the event of only one candidate meeting this requirement, the primaries would be left uncontested with such candidate being elected unopposed.

Timetable

The key dates of the primary election procedure are listed below (all times are CET): *28 May: Official announcement of the primary election; start of endorsement collection and candidacy submission periods. *13 June: End of endorsement collection and candidacy submission periods at 12 pm. *14 June: Endorsement verification. *15 June: Provisional proclamation of primary candidates. *18 June: Definitive proclamation of primary candidates. *19 June: Official start of internal information campaign. *25 June: Last day of internal information campaign. *26 June: Primary election (

polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English, British English and Canadian English although a polling place is the building and polling station is the specific ...

s open at 10 am and close at 8 pm). *2 July: Proclamation of prime ministerial nominee.

Candidates

Declined

The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running: File:José Blanco 2011b (cropped).jpg, File:José Bono 2011 (cropped).jpg, File:Carme Chacón 2010 (cropped).jpg, File:Trinidad Jiménez 2010d (cropped).jpg, File:Patxi López 2011 (cropped).jpg, File:José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero 2011c (cropped).jpg, File:Javier Solana-1.jpg, * José Blanco (age ) — Deputy Secretary-General of the PSOE ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

;

Spokesperson of the Government of Spain The Spokesperson of the Government of Spain is a high ranking of the Government of Spain whose purpose is to inform and communicate to society the political and institutional action of the central government. Its headquarters is located in the de ...

; Minister of Development of Spain ; Secretary of Organization of the PSOE ; City Councillor of Palas de Rei ;

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

. * Jose Bono (age ) — President of the Congress of Deputies ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for Toledo ; President of the PSCM–PSOE ; Minister of Defence of Spain ; Member of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha for Toledo ; President of the Regional Government of Castilla–La Mancha ; Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; Secretary-General of the PSCM–PSOE ; Member of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha for

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

; Fourth Secretary of the Congress of Deputies . *

(age ) — Minister of Defence of Spain ; Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

; 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 . * Trinidad Jiménez (age ) — Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain ; Minister of Health and Social Policy of Spain ; Secretary of State for Ibero-America ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

; Secretary of International Policy of the PSOE ; Spokesperson of the Socialist Group in Madrid ; City Councillor of Madrid ; Secretary of International Relations of the PSOE . * Patxi López (age ) —

Lehendakari The President of the Basque Government (, ), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari (, ), is the head of government of the Basque Autonomous Community. The lehendakari leads the executive branch of the regional government. T ...

; Secretary-General of the PSE–EE (PSOE) ; Member of the Basque Parliament for

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

; Secretary-General of the PSE–EE (PSOE) in Biscay ; Secretary of Organization of the PSE–EE (PSOE) ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

; Secretary-General of the JSE–EGAZ . *

(age ) —

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

; Secretary-General of the PSOE ; President ''pro tempore'' of the Council of the European Union ; Leader of the Opposition of Spain ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for León ; Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; Secretary-General of the PSOE in the province of León . *

Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga CYC (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary Gener ...

(age ) —

High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Un ...

;

Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union The secretary-general of the Council of the European Union heads the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. In October 2022, the Council appointed Thérèse Blanchet as the Secretary-General of the Council for a five-year te ...

; Secretary-General of the Western European Union ; Secretary-General of NATO ; Member of the PSOE Executive Commission ; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain ; Member of the Congress of Deputies for

; Minister of Education and Science of Spain ;

; Minister of Culture of Spain ; Secretary of Studies and Programs of the PSOE ; Secretary of Press and Information of the PSOE .

Endorsements

Rubalcaba secured the endorsement of the federal committee on 28 May, whereas all the other nine announced candidates failed to meet the threshold in time, garnering a total 14 "spontaneous" endorsements which were regarded as invalid due to them being sent via email or fax. Julián Pastor had previously claimed to have 8,500 endorsements; David González reported having "4,000 or 5,000" endorsements but acknowledged being unable to verify whether they belonged to party members because he was not able to access the official census; whereas José Carlos Carmona was said to have about 4,700.

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

Spanish voters

Aftermath

The lack of any significant challenger following the PSOE's rally around Rubalcaba meant that the primary process was left uncontested. As a result, the federal committee ratified Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba as the party's prime ministerial candidate on 9 July 2011. Rubalcaba subsequently vacated all of his cabinet posts in order to focus on his candidacy.

Notes

References

;Opinion poll sources ;Other

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:PSOE primaries, 2011 2011 elections in Spain June 2011 in Spain Primary elections in Spain

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Uncontested elections