1983 Canarian regional election

1983 Canarian regional election
8 May 1983 1987 →
All 60 seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands
31 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered925,572
Turnout577,670 (62.4%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jerónimo Saavedra Francisco Marcos Hernández Lorenzo Olarte
Party PSOE AP–PDP–PL CDS
Leader since 1977 1983 1983
Leader's seat Gran Canaria Tenerife Gran Canaria
Seats won 27 17 6
Popular vote 233,991 163,419 40,789
Percentage 41.5% 29.0% 7.2%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Miguel Cabrera Cabrera Gonzalo Angulo González Esteban Bethencourt Gámez
Party AM UPC–AC AGI
Leader since 1983 1983 1983
Leader's seat Fuerteventura Gran Canaria La Gomera
Seats won 3 2 2
Popular vote 5,551 46,784 3,294
Percentage 1.0% 8.3% 0.6%
Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Canary Islands
President before election

Jerónimo Saavedra
PSOE

Elected President

Jerónimo Saavedra
PSOE

The 1983 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) emerged as the largest party in the archipelago with 27 seats—4 short of an overall majority—following the disintegration and dissolution of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), the former ruling party of Spain in the 1977–1982 period which had achieved virtually unopposed victories in the islands in the 1977 and 1979 general elections.[1] The People's Coalition, an electoral alliance comprising the People's Alliance (AP), the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Union (UL) became the second largest party and the main opposition force in the Parliament with 17 seats, while the also-nationwide Communist Party of Spain (PCE) obtained 1 seat. The centre and centre-right vote became further split between several small parties and splits from the UCD, such as the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) of former Spanish prime minister Adolfo Suárez, which entered Parliament with 6 seats; the Gomera Group of Independents (AGI), with 2 seats; or the Canarian Nationalist Convergence (CNC) and the Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) with 1 seat each.

The election resulted in the most fragmented regional assembly of those elected on 8 May, with nine parties represented in the Parliament.[2][3] The PSOE candidate Jerónimo Saavedra, who had been elected as provisional president in December 1982,[4] was able to get re-elected with the support of AM, AGI and AHI,[5][6] though the party did not commit itself to a global agreement with any other political force.[7]

  1. ^ "Nueve fuerzas en el Parlamento autónomo". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. ^ "El PSOE domina 12 de las 17 comunidades autónomas". El País (in Spanish). 9 May 1983. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Los socialistas deberán pactar en cinco comunidades atonómas para gobernar". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. ^ "El socialista Jerónimo Saavedra, elegido presidente del Gobierno canario". El País (in Spanish). 30 December 1982. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Jerónimo Saavedra, elegido presidente del Gobierno canario". El País (in Spanish). 8 June 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Jerónimo Saavedra asumió la presidencia del Gobierno canario". El País (in Spanish). 12 June 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  7. ^ "El PSOE de Canarias descarta un pacto global con otros grupos". El País (in Spanish). 17 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.