Madrid Popular Party doubles strenght and wins elections

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a complete unknown without much trajectory only two years ago, is consolidating her position as a political phenomenon. The Madrid president and PP candidate is the big winner of the elections in the Community of Madrid, where she has swept to the point of winning more seats than the three left-wing parties combined, which will allow her to govern comfortably and without needing Vox for every law. The right-wing bloc has clearly strengthened and won 78 seats (65 for the PP and 13 for Vox) compared to 58 for the left (24 for Más Madrid, 24 for the PSOE and 10 for Podemos). Just two years ago, the difference between the two blocs was four MPs. Madrid thus swings even further to the right, but thanks to the spectacular increase of the PP, because Vox is left with a result very similar to that of two years ago.

The hard blow to the left has an immediate consequence: Pablo Iglesias leaves all his positions in Podemos and will not stay in the regional Assembly: “I will not be a stopper for a new leadership. I don’t know what destiny is, walking I was what I was”, he said as a farewell quoting Silvio Rodríguez after pointing to Yolanda Díaz as his successor.

A historic turnout, 11 points higher than in 2019, has not only not lifted the left, but has sunk it much further, especially due to the collapse of the PSOE, which has just won the elections in Catalonia, but has hit a bump in Madrid with a fall of more than 10 points that lead it to have the worst result in its history, and to tie in seats with a formation with hardly any means such as Más Madrid, which at the last moment of the count achieved a historic first place on the left by just over 4,000 votes.

Díaz Ayuso has not achieved an absolute majority – she is just four seats short – but the abstention of Vox would be enough for her to be invested. It now remains to be seen whether or not this group will want to enter the Madrid government, although the results make that possibility unlikely.

The left has failed in its attempt to seek a turnaround by mobilising the southern vote. The key to this fiasco is the PSOE’s collapse, which in less than two years has lost a good part of its support, despite having the same candidate who in 2019 amply won the elections in the community, Ángel Gabilondo, although he was unable to govern because the right-wing bloc had more seats than the left-wing bloc.