Heartening news today ahead of our own elections tomorrow. The People’s Party (PP) in Madrid led by regional assembly President Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who campaigned under a “Freedom” banner and who is credited with keeping lockdown restrictions to a minimum in the city, won 65 of the 136 seats available in the assembly. The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), which is the national governing party, was trounced, receiving just 16.85% of the vote, leaving it with a record low of just 24 seats, down from 37 two years ago. Euronews has more.
The PP’s conservative regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) had campaigned under the slogan of “Freedom”, championing relaxed COVID-19 measures and criticising the approach of the national government, led by Socialist Pedro Sánchez, to managing the pandemic in Spain.
Ayuso had called the election after the PP’s coalition with the liberal Cuidadanos party collapsed two years into its mandate.
Speaking on Tuesday, she said the results backed her policies of keeping bars, restaurants and other businesses open even at the height of the pandemic to keep the economy moving.
She told voters: voters: “We promise you two more years of freedom of governance, bringing down taxes, protecting public, private and special education. To look after our health care system and to look after all the great things that we have constructed amongst us all.
“We are not going to let you down. We are going to govern with respect and above all else, and I repeat again for the thousandth time we go forward with the flag of freedom leading us. Long live Madrid, Long live Spain.”
Does this mean Laurence Fox is going to do better than expected tomorrow? We can but hope.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: The Guardian has published its own rather grudging report of last night’s victory for common sense.
