1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election

The 1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election

← 1983 10 June 1987 1991 →

All 84 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León
43 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,997,693 Green arrow up0.2%
Turnout1,461,386 (73.2%)
Green arrow up3.4 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José María Aznar Juan José Laborda Carlos Sánchez-Reyes
Party AP PSOE CDS
Leader since 22 June 1985 10 March 1985 1987
Leader's seat Valladolid Burgos Valladolid
Last election 39 seats, 39.7%[a] 42 seats, 44.4% 2 seats, 6.0%
Seats won 32 32 18
Seat change Red arrow down7 Red arrow down10 Green arrow up16
Popular vote 493,488 488,469 278,253
Percentage 34.4% 34.0% 19.4%
Swing Red arrow down5.3 pp Red arrow down10.4 pp Green arrow up13.4 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Rafael de las Heras Tomás Cortés
Party PDP SI
Leader since 1986 1987
Leader's seat Segovia Burgos
Last election Did not contest Did not contest
Seats won 1 1
Seat change Green arrow up1 Green arrow up1
Popular vote 35,080 19,282
Percentage 2.4% 1.3%
Swing New party New party

Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León

President before election

José Constantino Nalda
PSOE

Elected President

José María Aznar
AP

Expectations for the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) were low after the resignation in October 1986 of former president Demetrio Madrid, besieged by a judicial investigation on the alleged fraudulent sale of a former textile company of his property and by internal opposition from within his party.[1][2] The election saw both the PSOE and the opposition People's Alliance (AP)—which ran on its own after the break up of the People's Coalition with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Party (PL) the previous year—lose ground to the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) which, with 18 seats and 19.4% of the share, scored the best result for a third party in a Castilian-Leonese regional election to date. The PDP was able to win one seat by Segovia, with Castile and León becoming one of the only two autonomous communities—the other being Navarre—in which the party was able to secure parliamentary representation. In Burgos, a breakway party, Independent Solution (SI), formed by the incumbent mayor of its capital city José María Peña San Martín, obtained one seat in the regional Cortes.

As a result of the election, the support of PDP and SI procurators and the decisive abstention of the CDS, AP candidate José María Aznar was able to become president of the Junta of Castile and León, replacing Socialist José Constantino Nalda and starting an uninterrupted stay of over three decades in power for AP and its successor, the People's Party (PP). Aznar's presidency would last until 1989, when he would resign to Jesús Posada in order to become the PP's national leader and, in 1996, prime minister of Spain.

Overview

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Electoral system

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The Cortes of Castile and León were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castile and León, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Leonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[3] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

All members of the Cortes of Castile and León were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora, with each being allocated an initial minimum of three seats, as well as one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.[3][4]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:

Seats Constituencies
15 León
14 Valladolid
11 Burgos, Salamanca
8 Zamora
7 Ávila, Palencia
6 Segovia
5 Soria

In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.[5]

Election date

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The term of the Cortes of Castile and León expired four years after the date of their previous election. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication and set so as to make it coincide with elections to the regional assemblies of other autonomous communities. The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election decree was required to be published no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place no later than the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes on Saturday, 13 June 1987.[3][4][6]

The Cortes of Castile and León could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected procurators merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[3]

Parliamentary composition

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The Cortes of Castile and León were officially dissolved on 14 April 1987, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of Castile and León.[7] The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Cortes at the time of dissolution.[8]

Parliamentary composition in April 1987
Parliamentary groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
Socialist PSOE 41 41
People's AP 31 36
PDP 5[9]
Mixed CDS 1 7
PANCAL 1[b]
INDEP 5[c]

Parties and candidates

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The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[4][6]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances
Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Votes (%) Seats
PSOE   Juan José Laborda Social democracy 44.37% 42  Y [11]
[12]
AP
List
  José María Aznar Conservatism 39.65%[a] 39  N [13]
[14]
[15]
PDP   Rafael de las Heras Christian democracy  N
CDS   Carlos Sánchez-Reyes Centrism
Liberalism
5.96% 2  N [16]
SI
List
  • Independent Solution (SI)
  Tomás Cortés Conservatism
Localism
Did not contest  N

Opinion polls

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The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.

Results

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Overall

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Summary of the 10 June 1987 Cortes of Castile and León election results
 
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Alliance (AP)1 493,488 34.36 –5.29 32 –7
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 488,469 34.01 –10.36 32 –10
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 278,253 19.37 +13.41 18 +16
United Left (IU)2 54,676 3.81 +0.58 0 ±0
People's Democratic Party (PDP) 35,080 2.44 New 1 +1
Independent Solution (SI) 19,282 1.34 New 1 +1
Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC) 11,943 0.83 New 0 ±0
Leonesist Union (UNLE) 8,960 0.62 New 0 ±0
Party of El Bierzo (PB) 5,387 0.38 +0.07 0 ±0
Nationalist Party of Castile and León (PNCL–PANCAL) 5,190 0.36 New 0 ±0
Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) 4,090 0.28 –2.23 0 ±0
Humanist Platform (PH) 3,934 0.27 New 0 ±0
Liberal Party (PL) 2,213 0.15 New 0 ±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 1,828 0.13 New 0 ±0
Spanish Ruralist Party (PRE) 749 0.05 New 0 ±0
Liberal Democratic Party (PDL) n/a n/a –2.72 0 –1
Blank ballots 22,690 1.58 +0.62
Total 1,436,232 84 ±0
Valid votes 1,436,232 98.28 –0.23
Invalid votes 25,154 1.72 +0.23
Votes cast / turnout 1,461,386 73.15 +3.31
Abstentions 536,307 26.85 –3.31
Registered voters 1,997,693
Sources[17][18][19][20]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
AP
34.36%
PSOE
34.01%
CDS
19.37%
IU
3.81%
PDP
2.44%
SI
1.34%
Others
3.08%
Blank ballots
1.58%
Seats
AP
38.10%
PSOE
38.10%
CDS
21.43%
PDP
1.19%
SI
1.19%

Distribution by constituency

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Constituency AP PSOE CDS PDP SI
% S % S % S % S % S
Ávila 30.3 2 23.5 2 40.6 3 1.9
Burgos 30.3 4 34.4 4 17.1 2 1.7 10.0 1
León 33.8 6 38.2 7 13.7 2 1.7
Palencia 45.0 4 33.4 2 13.7 1
Salamanca 35.2 4 35.0 4 21.7 3 0.9
Segovia 22.4 1 26.8 2 22.6 2 17.7 1
Soria 41.7 2 32.3 2 14.3 1 5.5
Valladolid 32.7 5 36.4 6 20.3 3 0.9
Zamora 43.0 4 32.5 3 16.7 1 2.0
Total 34.4 32 34.0 32 19.4 18 2.4 1 1.3 1
Sources[17][18][19][20]

Aftermath

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Government formation

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Investiture
José María Aznar (AP)
Ballot → 21 July 1987 21 July 1987
Required majority → 43 out of 84  N Simple  Y
Yes
  • AP (32)
  • PDP (1)
  • • SI (1)
34 / 84
34 / 84
No
32 / 84
32 / 84
Abstentions
18 / 84
18 / 84
Absentees
0 / 84
0 / 84
Sources[17]

1989 investiture

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Investiture
Jesús Posada (PP)
Ballot → 15 September 1989
Required majority → 43 out of 84  Y
Yes
51 / 84
No
30 / 84
Abstentions
0 / 84
Absentees
3 / 84
Sources[17]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Results for AP–PDP–UL in the 1983 election.
  2. ^ Francisco José Alonso.[10]
  3. ^ Manuel Cabezas, former PSOE legislator;[10] Antonio Martín Beaumont and Fernando Gil Nieto, former AP legislators; José Manuel Hernández, former CDS legislator; Francisco Montoya, former PDL/PRD legislator.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Within CP.
  5. ^ Result for PCE.

References

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Opinion poll sources
  1. ^ "Candidatos y encuestas". ABC (in Spanish). 27 May 1987.
  2. ^ "Gana el que menos votos pierde" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
  3. ^ "Presupuestos: La tentación electoralista". La Prensa Alcarreña (in Spanish). 25 July 1985.
Other
  1. ^ "La crisis por la dimisión de Demetrio Madrid debe resolverse en 15 días". El País. 31 October 1986. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. ^ "La dimisión de Demetrio Madrid favorece las expectativas electorales del centro y la derecha". El País. 3 November 1986. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Ley Orgánica 4/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Castilla-León (Organic Law 4) (in Spanish). 25 February 1983. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Ley 3/1987, de 30 de marzo, Electoral de Castilla y León (Law 3) (in Spanish). 30 March 1987. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  5. ^ Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  6. ^ a b Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Decreto 74/1987, de 13 de abril, por el que se convocan elecciones a las Cortes de Castilla y León" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (89): 11168. 14 April 1987. ISSN 0212-033X.
  8. ^ "El Parlamento. Legislaturas anteriores. I Legislatura". Cortes of Castile and León (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Situación precaria del PDP en Castilla y León". ABC (in Spanish). 20 July 1986. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Pase al Grupo Mixto". El País (in Spanish). 2 June 1984. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  11. ^ "El burgalés Juan José Laborda, nuevo secretario general del PSOE de Castilla y León". El País (in Spanish). 11 March 1985. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Juan José Laborda". El País (in Spanish). 4 March 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Alianza Popular de Castilla y León cree que aún se puede cambiar el mapa autonómico". El País (in Spanish). 23 June 1985. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Manuel Fraga abre en Castilla y León un nuevo 'frente electoral'". El País (in Spanish). 14 November 1986. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Fraga afirma que AP no tiene previsto celebrar en breve un nuevo congreso". El País (in Spanish). 16 November 1986. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Tres presidentes socialistas en nueve meses, si vence el PSOE". El País (in Spanish). 28 May 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d "Elecciones a Cortes de Castilla y León (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  18. ^ a b "Elections to the Cortes of Castile and León". servicios.jcyl.es (in Spanish). Junta of Castile and León. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  19. ^ a b "Cortes of Castile and León election results, 10 June 1987" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castile and León. 12 August 1987. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  20. ^ a b "Number 75. Audit report on the regularity of electoral accounting derived from the elections held on June 10, 1987" (PDF). tcu.es (in Spanish). Court of Auditors. Retrieved 8 December 2019.