Cantabrian parliamentary election, 2011

Cantabrian parliamentary election, 2011

22 May 2011

All 39 seats in the Parliament of Cantabria 20 seats needed for a majority Opinion polls Registered 494,955 1.9% Turnout 345,439 (69.8%) 2.2 pp   First party Second party Third party   Leader Ignacio Diego Miguel Ángel Revilla Dolores Gorostiaga Party PP PRC PSOE Leader since 13 November 2004 1983 16 December 2000 Last election 17 seats, 41.5% 12 seats, 28.6% 10 seats, 24.5% Seats won 20 12 7 Seat change 3 ±0 3 Popular vote 156,499 98,887 55,541 Percentage 46.1% 29.1% 16.4% Swing 4.6 pp 0.5 pp 8.1 pp

President before election Miguel Ángel Revilla PRC Elected President Ignacio Diego PP

The 2011 Cantabrian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Parliament of Cantabria, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Cantabria. At stake were all 39 seats in the Parliament, determining the President of Cantabria.

The Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) had formed the government of the region since the 2003 election.^[1] However, the election was won by the People's Party (PP) which gained three seats from the PSOE. This was the first absolute majority of seats won by the PP, although its predecessor, the People's Alliance achieved the same feat at the 1983 election under the banner of the People's Coalition.

Electoral system

The number of seats in the Parliament of Cantabria was set to a fixed-number of 39. All Parliament 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.^[2]

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. Poll results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PRC	PSOE	IU	UPyD	Oth.	Lead
22 May 2011	Regional Election	46.1	29.1	16.4	3.3	1.7	3.4	17.0
Exit polls
3–4 May	TNS-Demoscopia	45.5	27.7	17.9			8.9	17.8
21–28 Apr	Ikerfel	43.3	28.4	22.0			6.3	14.9
13–20 Apr	Celeste-Tel	45.9	27.3	18.3	3.4		5.1	18.6
17 Mar–17 Apr	CIS	40.9	29.6	19.7	2.8	2.5	4.5	11.3
11–14 Apr	Sigma-2	48.7	25.2	20.3			5.8	23.5
30 Mar–3 Apr	Ikerfel	41.3	29.5	21.4			7.8	11.8
22–25 Feb	GAD	46.2	27.9	19.1			6.8	18.3
2011
22–27 Dec	Sigma-2	47.7	26.1	20.4			5.8	21.6
17–19 May	Sigma-2	48.1	25.2	21.4	2.2		3.1	22.9
25 Jan–3 Feb	Sigma-2	44.1	28.7	17.6	3.6		6.0	15.4
2010
7 Jun 2009	EP Election	50.7	N/A	39.9	2.0	3.2	4.2	10.8
2009
9 Mar 2008	General Election	50.0	N/A	43.6	2.3	1.4	2.7	6.4
2008
27 May 2007	Regional Election	41.5	28.6	24.5	1.9		3.5	12.9

Seat projections

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 20 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Cantabria.

20 seats needed for majority

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PRC	PSOE	IU	UPyD	Others
22 May 2011	Regional Election	20	12	7	0	0	0
Exit polls
3–10 May	NC-Report	19−20	11−12	8	0	0	0
3–4 May	TNS-Demoscopia	19−20	12	7−8	0	0	0
21–28 Apr	Ikerfel	18−19	11−12	9	0	0	0
13–20 Apr	Celeste-Tel	20	11	7	1	0	0
17 Mar–17 Apr	CIS	18	13	8	0	0	0
11–14 Apr	Sigma-2	20−21	10−11	8	0	0	0
30 Mar–3 Apr	Ikerfel	17−18	12−13	9	0	0	0
22–25 Feb	GAD	19−20	11−12	7−8	0	0	0
2011
22–27 Dec	Sigma-2	20−21	10−11	8	0	0	0
17–19 May	Sigma-2	20	10−11	8−9	0	0	0
25 Jan–3 Feb	Sigma-2	19−20	12−13	7	0	0	0
2010
7 Jun 2009	EP Election	(22)	N/A	(17)	(0)	(0)	(0)
2009
9 Mar 2008	General Election	(21)	N/A	(18)	(0)	(0)	(0)
2008
27 May 2007	Regional Election	17	12	10	0		0

Results

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Cantabrian Parliament election results →

Party		Vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	156,499	46.09	4.61	20	3
	Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)	98,887	29.12	0.48	12	±0
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	55,541	16.36	8.18	7	3
	Ecologist and Social Left (IU-IA)	11,277	3.32	1.44	0	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	5,835	1.72	New	0	±0
	National Front-Republican Social Movement (MSR)	1,257	0.37	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	1,108	0.33	0.12	0	±0
	Engine and Sports Alternative (AMD)	916	0.27	0.15	0	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	517	0.15	New	0	±0
	Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL)	387	0.11	0.08	0	±0
	Blank ballots	7,328	2.16	0.45
Total		339,552	100.00		39	±0
Valid votes		339,552	98.30	0.76
Invalid votes		5,887	1.70	0.76
Votes cast / turnout		345,439	69.79	2.18
Abstentions		149,516	30.21	2.18
Registered voters		494,955
Source: Argos Information Portal

Vote share
PP			46.09%
PRC			29.12%
PSOE			16.36%
IU-IA			3.32%
UPyD			1.72%
Others			1.23%
Blank ballots			2.16%

Parliamentary seats
PP			51.28%
PRC			30.77%
PSOE			17.95%

References

1. Cantabria election results historiaelectoral.com, accessed 19 April 2011
2. "Law 5/1987, of 27 March, of elections to the Parliament of Cantabria".