20th National Congress of the People's Party (Spain)

20th National Congress of the PP
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1−2 April 2022 (congress)		 Next →
3,111 delegates in the national congress
Plurality of delegates needed to win
Opinion polls
Registered41,991 (primary)
Turnout36,974 (88.1%) (primary)
2,670 (85.8%) (congress, president)
 
Candidate Alberto Núñez Feijóo Blank ballots
Popular vote 36,781 (99.6%) 137 (0.4%)
Delegate vote 2,619 (98.3%) 44 (1.7%)
President before election

Pablo Casado

 Elected President

Alberto Núñez Feijóo

The 20th National Congress of the People's Party, officially the 20th Extraordinary National Congress, was held in Seville from 1 to 2 April 2022, to renovate the leading bodies of the People's Party (PP) and establish the party's main lines of action and strategy for the next leadership term. A primary election to elect the new party president was held on 21 March. The congress was called following the forced ousting of both Pablo Casado as president and Teodoro García Egea as secretary-general in the aftermath of a major crisis that ravaged the party from 16 to 23 February.[1][2] Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo became the party's new president.[3]

Following her landslide victory in the 4 May 2021 regional election, Madrilenian president Isabel Díaz Ayuso came to be increasingly seen by some within the party as a better leader than Casado to face off Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in the next Spanish general election.[4][5] A conflict started from September 2021 onwards when Ayuso rushed for the control of the party's regional branch in the Community of Madrid,[6][7] with such a move being seen by Casado's supporters as an immediate threat to his national leadership.[8][9][10] Following several months of a poor and erratic leadership on Casado's behalf and a disappointing party result in the self-imposed 2022 Castilian-Leonese regional election, the crisis entered a new stage on 16 February 2022 when some media revealed an alleged plot of García Egea's allies to investigate Ayuso's family in search of compromising material—more specifically, alleged influence peddling in the awarding of public contracts to Ayuso's brother. After several days of public infighting between both Casado and Ayuso, Feijóo was reported as having agreed with the latter and other party regional presidents to become the party's new leader and replace Casado,[11][12][13] whose incoming resignation and that of García Egea were announced on 22 February after they were publicly abandoned by most of their party's colleagues.

The congress slogan was "Lo haremos bien" (Spanish: We will get it right).[14] On 18 March 2022, it was announced that 41,681 PP members had registered to vote in the primary election scheduled for 21 March.[15]

  1. ^ Gómez, Pilar (23 February 2022). "El futuro del Partido Popular: gestora y congreso para aupar como líder a Feijóo". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  2. ^ Santos, Pilar (22 February 2022). "Casado cede a la presión interna y convocará congreso extraordinario del PP". El Periódico (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Alianza Popular / Partido Popular". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  4. ^ Mateo, Juan José (4 May 2021). "Díaz Ayuso, de candidata desconocida a referente de la derecha". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  5. ^ Riveiro, Aitor (13 September 2021). "El ala dura de Aguirre y Álvarez de Toledo se alinea con Ayuso frente a Casado". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  6. ^ Caballero, Fátima (1 September 2021). "Ayuso inaugura el curso con otra batalla de poder: la presidencia del PP de Madrid". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  7. ^ Riveiro, Aitor; Caballero, Fátima (3 November 2021). "Guerra total entre Casado y Ayuso por el control del PP de Madrid". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  8. ^ Campmany, Emilio (2 November 2021). "Lo que teme Casado". Libertad Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ^ Riveiro, Aitor; Caballero, Fátima (6 November 2021). "Casado y Ayuso: auge y declive de una amistad rota por el control del PP de Madrid". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  10. ^ Fumanal, Verónica (8 November 2021). "La guerra civil del PP". El Periódico de España (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  11. ^ García de Blas, Elsa (20 February 2022). "Pablo Casado resiste pese a la creciente presión de los barones para que dimita". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  12. ^ Santos, Pilar (21 February 2022). "Ayuso y Feijóo acordaron anoche que la etapa de Casado ha finalizado". El Periódico (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  13. ^ Del Riego, Carmen (21 February 2022). "Feijóo, Moreno, Ayuso y Mañueco se alían para pedir la dimisión de Casado". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  14. ^ "'Lo haremos bien' será el lema del Congreso Nacional del PP". El Periódico de España (in Spanish). Valencia. Europa Press. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  15. ^ Del Riego, Carmen (18 March 2022). "Feijóo, Moreno, Ayuso y Mañueco se alían para pedir la dimisión de Casado". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 18 March 2022.