Cantabrian parliamentary election, 1987

Cantabrian parliamentary election, 1987

10 June 1987

All 39 seats in the Regional Assembly of Cantabria 20 seats needed for a majority Registered 395,043 2.6% Turnout 301,306 (76.3%) 2.9 pp   First party Second party   Leader Juan Hormaechea Jaime Blanco Party AP PSOE Leader since 1987 1977 Last election 18 seats, 44.0%[lower-alpha 1] 15 seats, 38.4% Seats won 19 13 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 122,882 87,828 Percentage 41.4% 29.6% Swing 2.6 pp 8.8 pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Miguel Ángel Revilla Manuel Garrido Party PRC CDS Leader since 1983 1987 Last election 2 seats, 6.7% 0 seats, 2.6% Seats won 5 2 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 38,202 19,579 Percentage 12.9% 6.6% Swing 6.2 pp 4.0 pp

President before election Ángel Díaz de Entresotos AP Elected President Juan Hormaechea AP

The 1987 Cantabrian parliamentary election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd 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 seats in the Assembly, determining the President of Cantabria. The number of members increased from 35 to 39 compared to the previous election.

The election was a victory for the People's Alliance (AP), which despite the breakup of the People's Coalition with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Party (PL), remained the Assembly's largest force, albeit losing the absolute majority of seats it had held in the previous parliament. As in other communities, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) lost votes and seats, while the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) and Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) made gains.

The legislature would be marked by dissensions between the elected President of Cantabria, Juan Hormaechea, and his own party AP (from 1989 the People's Party). In 1989 the PP would demand Hormaechea's resignation, but he would continue in a government formed by independents. In December 1990, he will be forced out by a no-confidence motion supported by PP, PSOE, PRC and CDS, which would result in a coalition government headed by Socialist Jaime Blanco being formed until the 1991 election.

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 in all of the community (which include blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.^[1]

Results

← Summary of the 10 June 1987 Cantabrian Regional Assembly election results →

Party		Vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Alliance (AP)[lower-alpha 1]	122,882	41.35	2.64	19	1
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	87,828	29.55	8.86	13	2
	Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)	38,202	12.86	6.13	5	3
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	19,579	6.59	4.02	2	2
	United Left (IU)[lower-alpha 2]	10,843	3.65	0.31	0	±0
	People's Democratic Party (PDP)	7,028	2.36	New	0	±0
	Workers' Party of Spain-Communist Unity (PTE-UC)	3,233	1.09	New	0	±0
	Radicals' Movement for Cantabria (MRC)	1,864	0.63	New	0	±0
	Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI)	1,519	0.51	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)	872	0.29	New	0	±0
	Blank ballots	3,319	1.12	0.56
Total		297,169	100.00		39	4
Valid votes		297,169	98.63	0.11
Invalid votes		4,137	1.37	0.11
Votes cast / turnout		301,306	76.27	2.71
Abstentions		93,737	23.73	2.71
Registered voters		395,043
Source: Argos Information Portal

Vote share
AP			41.35%
PSOE			29.55%
PRC			12.86%
CDS			6.59%
IU			3.65%
PDP			2.36%
PTE-UC			1.09%
Others			1.43%
Blank ballots			1.12%

Parliamentary seats
AP			48.72%
PSOE			33.33%
PRC			12.82%
CDS			5.13%

Post-election

Investiture voting

1st round: 22 July 1987 Investiture voting for Juan Hormaechea (Independent) Absolute majority: 20/39
Vote	Parties	Votes
Yes	AP (19)	19 / 39
No	PSOE (13), PRC (5)	18 / 39
Abstentions	CDS (2)	2 / 39
2nd round: 24 July 1987 Investiture voting for Juan Hormaechea (Independent) Simple majority
Vote	Parties	Votes
Yes	AP (19)	19 / 39
No	PSOE (13), PRC (5)	18 / 39
Abstentions	CDS (2)	2 / 39
Source(s): ABC El País

Motion of censure

5 December 1990 Motion of censure against Juan Hormaechea Candidate: Jaime Blanco García (PSOE) Absolute majority: 20/39
Vote	Parties	Votes
Yes	PSOE (12), PP (7), PRC (3), CDS (2), ALP (2)	26 / 39
No	Indep. (11), PNC (1)	12 / 39
Abstentions	Indep. (1)	1 / 39
Source: El País

Notes

1. Compared to the People's Coalition results in the 1983 election.
2. Compared to the Communist Party of Spain results in the 1983 election.

References

1. "Law 5/1987, of 27 March, of elections to the Parliament of Cantabria".