First Rajoy Government

First Rajoy Government
2011–2016
Date formed 21 December 2011
Date dissolved 31 October 2016
People and organisations
Head of state
Head of government Mariano Rajoy
Deputy head of government Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría
No. of ministers 14
Member party PP
Status in legislature
Opposition party PSOE
Opposition leader
History
Election(s) 2011 general election
Outgoing election
Legislature term(s)
  • X Legislature (2011–2016)
  • XI Legislature (2016)
Budget(s) 2012 budget
2013 budget
2014 budget
2015 budget
2016 budget
Outgoing formation 2015–16 government formation
Predecessor Zapatero II
Successor Rajoy II

The first Rajoy Government was formed after King Juan Carlos I nominated Mariano Rajoy to form a government following the 2011 general election on 20 November. Rajoy was elected Prime Minister on 20 December by the Congress of Deputies and was sworn into office on 21 December, with his cabinet being appointed the following day. It succeeded the second Zapatero Government.

History

Mariano Rajoy led his party to the largest electoral victory of the centre-right in Spain in history in the 2011 general election, winning 186 out of 350 seats, an absolute majority of seats. Rajoy was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 December 2011 after he obtained the confidence vote in the Congress of Deputies. The cabinet endured from 21 December 2011 to 31 October 2016, a total of 1,776 days, or 4 years, 10 months and 10 days. Rajoy's first cabinet was composed mainly by members of the People's Party and some independents.

Investiture

Investiture of
Mariano Rajoy (PP)		 Yes No Abstentions
20 December 2011 (1st ballot)
(176/350 required)		 187 • PP (185)
• FAC (1)
• UPN (1)		 149 • PSOE (110)
• CiU (16)
• IU–ICV–CHA (11)
• UPyD (5)
• ERC (3)
• BNG (2)
• Compromís (1)
• GBai (1)		 14 • Amaiur (7)
• PNV (5)
• CC (1)
• NC (1)
Source: historiaelectoral.com

Changes

No major reshuffles took place during the Government's tenure, with the Cabinet seeing only punctual replacements as a resulty of some of its members resigning on their own.

On 28 April 2014, Miguel Arias Cañete resigned as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs in order to stand as his party's candidate to the 2014 European Parliament election. He was succeeded by Isabel García Tejerina.

On 23 September 2014, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón announced his resignation as Minister for Justice, after the Cabinet's withdrawal of his proposed bill to reform the abortion law and PM Mariano Rajoy's decision to keep the bill approved by the previous Zapatero's government, with some minor changes. The decision was said to come over the loss of Gallardón's personal prestige resulting from his staunch defense of the proposed abortion bill, with Rajoy's u-turn on the issue discrediting him.[1] As both Rajoy and King Felipe VI were abroad on official trips to China and the United States, respectively, when Ruiz-Gallardón resigned, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of the Ministry for Justice until Gallardon's successor, Rafael Catalá, could take office on 29 September 2014.[2]

On 26 November 2014, Ana Mato resigned as Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality due to her involvement in the Gürtel case, after she was summoned to court as a "participant on a lucrative basis" in the corruption crimes allegedly committed by her ex-husband Jesús Sepúlveda. Her resignation came one day before a plenary in Congress on corruption in which PM Mariano Rajoy was scheduled to take part, and after Mato herself had announced earlier on the same day that she had not considered to resign.[3] As both PM Rajoy and King Felipe VI had scheduled official trips abroad to France and Germany, respectively, in the days following Mato's resignation, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of the Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality until her successor, Alfonso Alonso, could take office on 3 December 2014.[4][5]

On 26 June 2015, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo was sworn in as Minister for Education, Culture and Sport, replacing José Ignacio Wert. The change was widely expected as Wert had requested Rajoy to find him a substitute so that he could retire from politics; however, it was also expected that Rajoy would take such opportunity to issue a full Cabinet reshuffle after the negative results for the PP in the 2015 Spanish municipal and regional elections, an event that did not took place.[6]

Caretaker cabinet

After 21 December 2015, Rajoy's cabinet took on caretaker functions for the duration of the government formation process. However, this lasted for over 300 days and a new general election being held in the meantime. A number of ministers renounced their posts throughout this period, with their offices' ordinary duties being taken by other cabinet members as a result of Rajoy being unable to name proper replacements due to his caretaker role.

On 15 April 2016, José Manuel Soria was forced to renounce his post as acting Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism because of his involvement in the Panama Papers scandal, owing to the leaking of information revealing that he and his family had maintained several offshore societies on tax havens during the previous decades.[7] Soria initially claimed the falsehood of such claims, but during the ensuing days reports kept leaking that contradicted his initial clarifications. On 14 April, after it was revealed that he had owned one of such societies on Jersey until 2002 during his term as Mayor of Las Palmas, he was put in a critical political position as a result of his confusing and changing explanations on the issue, resulting in his renounce the following day.[8][9] Luis de Guindos, acting Minister for Economy and Competitiveness, took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of Soria's vacant Ministry.[10]

On 19 July 2016, Ana Pastor was elected President of the Congress of Deputies of the 12th Legislature, a position not compatible with her post as acting Minister for Development. Rafael Catalá, acting Minister for Justice, took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of Pastor's vacant Ministry.[11] On 16 August 2016, Alfonso Alonso resigned as acting Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality in order to stand as his party's candidate to the 2016 Basque parliamentary election.[12] Fátima Báñez, acting Minister for Employment and Social Security, took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of Alonso's vacant Ministry.[13]

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers was structured into 13 ministries—not including the post of prime minister—as well as one deputy prime minister office.[14][15][16]

Portfolio Minister Took office Left office Party
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy21 December 201131 October 2016PP
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría22 December 201131 October 2016PP
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation José Manuel García-Margallo22 December 201131 October 2016PP
Minister of Justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón22 December 201123 September 2014PP
 Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría[n 1]24 September 201129 September 2014PP
 Rafael Catalá29 September 201431 October 2016Independent
Minister of Defence Pedro Morenés22 December 201131 October 2016Independent
Minister of the Treasury and Public Administration Services Cristóbal Montoro22 December 201131 October 2016PP
Minister of the Interior Jorge Fernández Díaz22 December 201131 October 2016PP
Minister of Development Ana Pastor Julián22 December 201119 July 2016PP
 Rafael Catalá[n 2]19 July 201631 October 2016Independent
Minister of Education, Culture and Sport José Ignacio Wert22 December 201126 June 2015Independent
 Íñigo Méndez de Vigo26 June 201531 October 2016PP
Minister of Employment and Social Security Fátima Báñez22 December 201131 October 2016PP
Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism José Manuel Soria22 December 201115 April 2016PP
 Luis de Guindos[n 3]16 April 201631 October 2016Independent
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs Miguel Arias Cañete22 December 201128 April 2014PP
 Isabel García Tejerina28 April 201431 October 2016PP
Minister of the Presidency Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría22 December 201131 October 2016PP
Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Luis de Guindos22 December 201131 October 2016Independent
Minister of Health, Social Services and Equality Ana Mato22 December 201126 November 2014PP
 Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría[n 1]27 November 20113 December 2014PP
 Alfonso Alonso3 December 201416 August 2016PP
 Fátima Báñez[n 4]16 August 201631 October 2016PP
Spokesperson of the Government[n 5] Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría22 December 201131 October 2016PP

Notes

  1. 1 2 Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría took on the ordinary discharge of duties of the Ministry of Justice from 24 to 29 September 2014, and of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality from 27 November to 3 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Rafael Catalá took on the ordinary discharge of duties of the Ministry of Development from 19 July to 31 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Luis de Guindos took on the ordinary discharge of duties of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism from 16 April to 31 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Fátima Báñez took on the ordinary discharge of duties of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality from 16 August to 31 October 2016.
  5. ↑ The Office of the Spokesperson of the Government was integrated into the Ministry of the Presidency.

References

  1. ↑ "Gallardón se va de la política al ser desautorizado en público por Rajoy". El Mundo (in Spanish). 2014-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Rafael Catalá jura su cargo como ministro de Justicia y anuncia una "mejora" de la ley de tasas". 20minutos (in Spanish). 2014-09-29.
  3. ↑ "Dimite Ana Mato para no hundir a Mariano Rajoy". El País (in Spanish). 2014-11-26.
  4. ↑ "Ignacio Echániz, Pilar Farjas o Susana Camarero, posibles sucesores de Ana Mato". ABC (in Spanish). 2014-11-26.
  5. ↑ "Rajoy nombra a Alonso para Sanidad y refuerza el perfil político del Ejecutivo". El País (in Spanish). 2014-12-02.
  6. ↑ "Rajoy reduce su crisis de Gobierno a la sustitución de Wert por Íñigo Méndez de Vigo en Educación". El Mundo. 2015-06-26.
  7. ↑ "El ministro Soria aparece en los papeles de Panamá". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 2016-04-11.
  8. ↑ "José Manuel Soria presenta su renuncia como ministro de Industria". El Mundo (in Spanish). 2016-04-15.
  9. ↑ "Panama Papers: Spain’s Industry Minister José Manuel Soria Resigns Over Links To Offshore Account". International Business Times. 2016-04-15.
  10. ↑ "Luis de Guindos asume las funciones de Industria tras la renuncia de Soria". RTVE (in Spanish). 2016-04-15.
  11. ↑ "Catalá asume las funciones de Fomento tras la designación de Pastor como aspirante a presidir el Congreso". ABC (in Spanish). 2016-07-19.
  12. ↑ "Alfonso Alonso será el candidato del PP a lehendakari". El País (in Spanish). 2016-08-01.
  13. ↑ "Fátima Báñez asume las funciones de Sanidad en sustitución de Alfonso Alonso". El Mundo (in Spanish). 2016-08-16.
  14. ↑ "Real Decreto 1823/2011, de 21 de diciembre, por el que se reestructuran los departamentos ministeriales". Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (307): 139961–139965. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  15. ↑ "Real Decreto 1824/2011, de 21 de diciembre, sobre la Vicepresidencia del Gobierno". Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (307): 139966. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "BOE-S-2011-307: II. Autoridades y personal". Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (307): 139967–139969. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
Preceded by
Zapatero II		 Government of Spain
2011–2016 		Succeeded by
Rajoy II
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