Extraordinary national congress of the People's Party following the resignation of Mariano Rajoy
The 19th National Congress of the People's Party, officially the 19th Extraordinary National Congress, was held in Madrid from 20 to 21 July 2018, to renovate the governing 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 5 July. The congress was called by the party's National Board of Directors on 11 June as a consequence of former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy's resignation as PP leader on 5 June, following the motion of no confidence that had voted his government down on 1 June. The leadership election was the first whereby PP members directly participate in choosing a leader for the party. On 26 June 2018, it was announced that only 66,706 PP members out of the 869,535 reported by the party had registered to vote in the election.
Former deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and the party's Deputy Secretary-general of Communication Pablo Casado topped the poll in the primary election held on 5 July 2018, becoming eligible for the run-off to be held among the party's delegates on 20−21 July. After preliminary data was published, Sáenz de Santamaría conceded the election and acknowledged Casado's victory. Casado's win, which was considered a party swing towards the right, was possible through the support to his candidacy of former party secretary-general María Dolores de Cospedal, who had been a bitter rival of Santamaría during the PP's time in government.
Overview.
The congress of the PP was the party's supreme body, and could be of either ordinary or extraordinary nature, depending on whether it was held following the natural end of its term or due to any other exceptional circumstances not linked to this event. Ordinary congresses were to be held every four years and called at least two months in advance of their celebration, though this timetable could be altered for up to twelve months in the event of coincidence with electoral processes. Extraordinary congresses had to be called by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Directors at least one-and-a-half month in advance of their celebration, though in cases of "exceptional urgency" this deadline could be reduced to 30 days.
The president of the PP was the party's head and the person holding the party's political and legal representation, and presided over its board of directors and executive committee, which were the party's maximum directive, governing and administration bodies between congresses.
Electoral system.
The election of the PP president was based on a two-round system, introduced in the party statutes during the previous PP congress in 2017. Any party member with at least one-year membership was eligible for the post of party president, on the condition that they were up to date with the payment of party fees and that they were able to secure the signed endorsements of at least 100 party members. The election was to be held in the party's 60 constituencies, corresponding to each province and island of Spain.
In the first round, all registered party members who had their payment fees up to date were allowed to vote for any of the candidates who had been officially proclaimed by virtue of securing the required number of signatures to run. In the event that no candidate won the first round outright—which required securing at least 50 percent of the national vote, being the most voted candidate in at least half of the constituencies and at least a 15-percentage point advantage over the runner-up—a second round would be held concurrently with the party congress, in which party delegates would elect the new party leader from among the two candidates who had previously received the most votes in the first round. Most of the delegates were to be elected by party members concurrently with the first round of voting to the party leadership.
Timetable.
The key dates are listed below (all times are CEST. Note that the Canary Islands use WEST (UTC+1) instead):
Candidates.
Declined.
The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:
Endorsements.
Total.
Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of at least 100 party members.
Public endorsements.
Pablo Casado.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Pablo Casado's endorsements
Elio Cabanes.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Elio Cabanes' endorsements, prior to his elimination in the first ballot; endorsed Pablo Casado
María Dolores de Cospedal.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;María Dolores de Cospedal's endorsements, prior to her elimination in the first ballot; endorsed Pablo Casado
José Ramón García-Hernández.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;José Ramón García-Hernández's endorsements, prior to his elimination in the first ballot; endorsed Pablo Casado
José Manuel García-Margallo.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;José Manuel García-Margallo's endorsements, prior to his elimination in the first ballot; endorsed Pablo Casado
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría's endorsements
Opinion polls.
Poll results are listed in the tables below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the candidate's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded. Polls show data gathered among PP voters/supporters as well as Spanish voters as a whole, but not among party members, who are the ones ultimately entitled to vote in the primary election.
References.
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