PSOE leadership election, 2014

2014 PSOE Extraordinary Federal Congress

← 2012 13 July 2014 (primary) 26−27 July 2014 (congress) 2017 →
1,019 delegates in the 2014 Extraordinary PSOE Federal Congress 510 delegate votes needed to win
Opinion polls
Registered	198,123
Turnout	132,850 (67.1%)
Candidate Pedro Sánchez Eduardo Madina José Antonio Pérez Tapias Party PSOE PSOE PSOE Endorsements 41,338, 54.0% 25,238, 33.0% 9,912, 13.0% Popular vote 64,116, 48.7% 47,750, 36.2% 19,869, 15.1% Delegate vote Unopposed Withdrew Withdrew
Secretary before election Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba Elected Secretary Pedro Sánchez

Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba

Pedro Sánchez

The 2014 PSOE federal congress—officially the 2014 PSOE Extraordinary Federal Congress—was held on 26 and 27 July 2014 to elect a new party leadership in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), with a preliminary primary election open to party members initially scheduled to be held on 13 July to elect a new Secretary General.

The Congress was called by PSOE Secretary-General Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba after his party's poor results at the 2014 European Parliament election, garnering just 23% of the vote. Rubalcaba announced his intention not to run for either his party's leadership or for the 2015 Spanish general election.

This Federal Congress was the first held at a national level in which all party members and affiliates (around 200,000) had the possibility to be consulted, several days before the Congress was held, about which person they wanted to become the new party leader. While not a legally binding ballot, the results were likely to be respected by the 1,000 party delegates which finally elected the new party's Secretary-General. Party members wishing to contend the election were required to gather the endorsement of at least 5% of the party membership before June 27.

The 2011 general election had resulted in a landslide victory for Mariano Rajoy's People's Party (PP), a result of the financial crisis which had been hurting the country's economy since 2008. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), amidst a climate of high unpopularity, was ousted from power with the worst election result since the first post-Francoist electoral process in 1977. Then-Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had decided to stand down as PM candidate in early 2011 and as party leader once the quadrennial party congress due for early 2012 was held. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, PSOE candidate for the 2011 election and former Deputy Prime Minister, was elected new Secretary-General in a tight fight against former Minister of Defence Carme Chacón.

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