Cantabrian parliamentary election, 1995

Cantabrian parliamentary election, 1995
Cantabria
28 May 1995

All 39 seats in the Regional Assembly of Cantabria
20 seats needed for a majority
Registered 435,752 Increase5.7%
Turnout 322,654 (74.0%)
Increase1.7 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José Joaquín Martínez Sieso Julio Neira Vicente de la Hera
Party PP PSOE UPCA
Leader since 1995 23 February 1995 13 December 1994
Last election 6 seats, 14.4% 16 seats, 34.8% 15 seats, 33.5%
Seats won 13 10 7
Seat change Increase7 Decrease6 Decrease8
Popular vote 104,008 80,464 53,191
Percentage 32.5% 25.1% 16.6%
Swing Increase18.1 pp Decrease9.7 pp Decrease16.9 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Miguel Ángel Revilla Ángel Agudo
Party PRC IU
Leader since 1983 1983
Last election 2 seats, 6.4% 0 seats, 4.4%
Seats won 6 3
Seat change Increase4 Increase3
Popular vote 46,587 23,563
Percentage 14.6% 7.4%
Swing Increase8.2 pp Increase3.0 pp

President before election

Juan Hormaechea
UPCA

Elected President

José Joaquín Martínez Sieso
PP

The 1995 Cantabrian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 4th Parliament of Cantabria (known from 1983 to 1998 as Regional Assembly of Cantabria), the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Cantabria. At stake were all 39 seats in the Assembly, determining the President of Cantabria.

The People's Party won the election, recovering much of the vote it had lost in 1991 to Hormaechea's Union for the Progress of Cantabria (UPCA), which fell to third place and lost over half of its seats and votes. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which in 1991 had won the regional election, collapsed and obtained its worst result until that time. The Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) recovered and scored fourth with nearly 15% of the vote, while United Left (IU) entered the Assembly for the first time.

As a result of the election, José Joaquín Martínez Sieso from the People's Party was able to be elected as regional President thanks to a PP-PRC coalition agreement.

Electoral system

The number of seats in the Regional Assembly of Cantabria was set to a fixed-number of 39. All Assembly members were elected in a single multi-member district, consisting of the Community's territory (the province of Cantabria), using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system.

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of valid votes (which include blank ballotsfor none of the above) in all of the community were entitled to enter the seat distribution.[1]

Results

Summary of the 28 May 1995 Cantabrian Regional Assembly election results
Party Vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Won +/−
People's Party (PP) 104,008 32.50 Increase18.06 13 Increase7
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 80,464 25.14 Decrease9.67 10 Decrease6
Union for the Progress of Cantabria (UPCA) 53,191 16.62 Decrease16.91 7 Decrease8
Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) 46,587 14.56 Increase8.21 6 Increase4
United Left (IU) 23,563 7.36 Increase2.96 3 Increase3
Independents of Cantabria (INCA) 3,182 0.99 New 0 ±0
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 1,267 0.40 Decrease2.28 0 ±0
Cantabria Renewal Coalition (CRCA) 879 0.27 New 0 ±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 705 0.22 Decrease0.08 0 ±0
Blank ballots 6,186 1.93 Increase0.24
Total 320,032 100.00 39 ±0
Valid votes 320,032 99.19 Increase0.04
Invalid votes 2,622 0.81 Decrease0.04
Votes cast / turnout 322,654 74.05 Increase1.71
Abstentions 113,098 25.95 Decrease1.71
Registered voters 435,752
Source: Argos Information Portal
Vote share
PP
 
32.50%
PSOE
 
25.14%
UPCA
 
16.62%
PRC
 
14.56%
IU
 
7.36%
Others
 
1.89%
Blank ballots
 
1.93%
Parliamentary seats
PP
 
33.33%
PSOE
 
25.64%
UPCA
 
17.95%
PRC
 
15.38%
IU
 
7.69%

Post-election

Investiture voting

13 July 1995
Investiture voting for José Joaquín Martínez Sieso (PP)

Absolute majority: 20/39
Vote Parties Votes
Yes Yes PP (13), UPCA (7), PRC (6)
26 / 39
No PSOE (10)
10 / 39
Abstentions IU (3)
3 / 39
Source: El País

References