Spanish legislative election, 1982

Spanish general election, 1982

1979 ← 28 October 1982 → 1986

All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 208 (of 254) seats in the Senate 176 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies Opinion polls Registered 26,846,940 0.0% Turnout 21,469,274 (80.0%) 12.0 pp   First party Second party Third party   Leader Felipe González Manuel Fraga Miquel Roca Party PSOE AP–PDP CiU Leader since 13 October 1974 9 October 1976 12 March 1980 Leader's seat Madrid Madrid Barcelona Last election 121 seats, 30.4% 16 seats, 7.4% 8 seats, 2.7% Seats won 202 107 12 Seat change 81 91 4 Popular vote 10,127,392 5,548,108 772,726 Percentage 48.1% 26.4% 3.7% Swing 17.7 pp 19.0 pp 1.0 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Landelino Lavilla Iñigo Aguirre Santiago Carrillo Party UCD EAJ/PNV PCE Leader since 13 July 1982 1 February 1980 3 July 1960 Leader's seat Madrid Biscay Madrid Last election 163 seats, 33.9% 7 seats, 1.6% 23 seats, 10.8% Seats won 11 8 4 Seat change 152 1 19 Popular vote 1,425,094 395,656 865,272 Percentage 6.8% 1.9% 4.1% Swing 27.1 pp 0.3 pp 6.7 pp

Provincial results map for the Congress of Deputies

Prime Minister before election Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo UCD Elected Prime Minister Felipe González PSOE

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
UCD

Felipe González
PSOE

The 1982 Spanish general election was held on Thursday, 28 October 1982, to elect the 2nd Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 254 seats in the Senate.

As opinion polls showed a collapse in support for the ruling Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo called for a snap election after party splits and infighting through the summer of 1982 had left him without a workable majority to remain in power. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) led by Felipe González won the election by a landslide victory, with 48.1% of the share and 202 out of 350 seats in the Congress, sweeping across the country, running a mainstream modern social democratic campaign and appealing to political change.

The UCD, on the other hand, was decimated, losing 93% of its 1979 seats and roughly 80% of its 1979 vote—one of the worst defeats ever suffered by a western European governing party. The right-wing People's Alliance (AP), led into the election by former Minister Manuel Fraga, benefitted greatly from the UCD's losses, becoming the main opposition party to the Socialists with slightly over 100 seats and 26.4% of the vote. Former Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez's party, the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)—split from the UCD some months previously—had a modest entry into the Congress with 2 seats and 2.9% of the vote, while the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) vote plummeted, suffering from tactical voting to the PSOE.

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Wikipedia