Anti-lockdown leader of Madrid revitalizes Spanish right
ARITZ PARRA, Associated Press
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1of17Conservative Madrid regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso, left, and Popular party leader Pablo Casasdo celebrate election results outside the popular party headquarters in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. Madrid residents voted in droves for a new regional assembly in an election that tests the depths of resistance to virus lockdown measures and the divide between left-wing and right-wing parties. Regional President Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who called the early election by dissolving her center-right coalition, had set off to broaden her power base and open up to an alliance with the far-right.Bernat Armangue/APShow MoreShow Less
EFE(Updates with rewrite, additional information)
Madrid
5 May 2021
Resounding win for Spain s conservative PP in regional elections
Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Popular Party leader Pablo Casado in Madrid, Spain on 4 May 2021. EFE/Mariscal
A handout photo made available by the People s Party (PP s) shows Madrid s regional president and candidate to reelection Isabel Diaz Ayuso (R) and PP Part Leader Pablo Casado as they wait for Madrid s regional elections first results at the party s headquarters in Madrid, central Spain, 04 May 2021. EFE/EPA/PEOPLE PARTY / HANDOUT
Supporters of Spain s Popular Party in Madrid, Spain on 4 May 2021. EFE/Mariscal.
2021-05-05 03:35:38 GMT2021-05-05 11:35:38(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
MADRID, May 5 (Xinhua) The center-right Popular Party (PP) won the elections of the Autonomous Community of Madrid on Tuesday with 65 seats, more than doubling the seats it won in the 2019 elections.
Falling short of an absolute majority, the PP s candidate and Madrid s Regional President Isabel Diaz Ayuso will be able to form a government with the help of other parties, with the far-right VOX seen as a most likely partner.
The Spanish Socialist Workers Party from the center left led by candidate Angel Gabilondo won 24 seats, a loss of 13 seats compared to 2019, while the leftist Mas Madrid with candidate Monica Garcia managed to add four more seats, moving from 20 to 24 seats.
POLLS open this morning to elect the 136 members of the Madrid Assembly amid speculation that the election will affect more than just the Spanish capital – and could push Spain’s politics further to the right. Isabel Diaz Ayuso took over as regional leader of the right-wing People’s Party (PP) two years ago and governed the community in coalition with the Citizen’s Party. The 42-year-old’s style has been described as “Trumpian” with claims that overnight traffic jams in Madrid are part of the city’s cultural identity, and that nobody has died from its air pollution. Her leadership during the pandemic – which claimed almost 15,000 victims – has been criticised by many. Despite this, it is still felt that Ayuso could double the PP’s seats in the Madrid Assembly, as well as trigger the loss of all the Citizen’s seats.