1987 Cantabrian regional election

The 1987 Cantabrian regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Regional Assembly of the autonomous community of Cantabria. All 39 seats in the Regional Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

1987 Cantabrian regional election

10 June 1987
All 39 seats in the Regional Assembly of Cantabria 20 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	395,043 2.6%
Turnout	299,115 (75.7%) 2.3 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Juan Hormaechea Jaime Blanco Miguel Ángel Revilla Party AP PSOE PRC Leader since 1987 1977 1983 Last election 18 seats, 44.0%[lower-alpha 1] 15 seats, 38.4% 2 seats, 6.7% Seats won 19 13 5 Seat change 1 2 3 Popular vote 122,964 87,230 37,950 Percentage 41.7% 29.6% 12.9% Swing 2.3 pp 8.8 pp 6.2 pp   Fourth party   Leader Manuel Garrido Party CDS Leader since 1987 Last election 0 seats, 2.6% Seats won 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote 19,370 Percentage 6.6% Swing 4.0 pp
President before election Ángel Díaz de Entresotos AP Elected President Juan Hormaechea Independent

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.

Overview

Electoral system

The Regional Assembly of Cantabria was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Cantabria, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Cantabrian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Regional Deputation.[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Cantabria and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 39 members of the Regional Assembly of Cantabria were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.[1][2]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in Cantabria. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.[2][3][4]

Election date

The term of the Regional Assembly of Cantabria expired four years after the date of its previous election. Election day was to take place between the thirtieth and the sixtieth day from the date of expiry of parliament. The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election was required to take place no later than the sixtieth day from the date of expiry of parliament, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 7 July 1987.[1][2][3][4]

The Regional Assembly of Cantabria could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Regional Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[1]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 20 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Regional Assembly of Cantabria.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout			PRC					Lead
1987 regional election	10 Jun 1987	N/A	75.7	–	29.6 13	12.9 5	3.6 0	6.6 2	41.7 19	2.4 0	12.1
Demoscopia/El País[p 1]	22–26 May 1987	?	74	–	34.8 14/15	8.2 3	5.9 0/2	11.8 5	36.9 15/16	–	2.1
Sofemasa/AP[p 2][p 3]	16 Apr 1987	?	?	–	30.2	–	3.2	16.2	34.8	–	4.6
1986 general election	22 Jun 1986	N/A	73.4	34.1 15	44.3 19	–	3.1 0	13.0 5	[lower-alpha 2]	[lower-alpha 2]	10.2
1983 regional election	8 May 1983	N/A	73.6	44.0 18	38.4 15	6.7 2	4.0[lower-alpha 3] 0	2.6 0	[lower-alpha 2]	[lower-alpha 2]	5.6

Results

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

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Alliance (AP)^1	122,964	41.68	–2.31	19	+1
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	87,230	29.57	–8.84	13	–2
	Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)	37,950	12.86	+6.13	5	+3
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	19,370	6.57	+4.00	2	+2
	United Left (IU)^2	10,659	3.61	–0.35	0	±0
	People's Democratic Party (PDP)	6,964	2.36	New	0	±0
	Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC)	2,441	0.83	New	0	±0
	Radicals' Movement for Cantabria (MRC)	1,863	0.63	New	0	±0
	Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI)	1,518	0.51	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)	767	0.26	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		3,292	1.12	+0.56
Total		295,018			39	+4
Valid votes		295,018	98.63	+0.11
Invalid votes		4,097	1.37	–0.11
Votes cast / turnout		299,115	75.72	+2.16
Abstentions		95,928	24.28	–2.16
Registered voters		395,043
Sources[5][6][7]

Popular vote AP   41.68% PSOE   29.57% PRC   12.86% CDS   6.57% IU   3.61% PDP   2.36% Others   2.23% Blank ballots   1.12%

Seats AP   48.72% PSOE   33.33% PRC   12.82% CDS   5.13%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture Juan Hormaechea (Independent)
Ballot →		22 July 1987	24 July 1987
Required majority →		20 out of 39 N	Simple Y
	Yes • AP (19)	19 / 39	19 / 39
	No • PSOE (13) (12 on 24 Jul) • PRC (5)	18 / 39	17 / 39
	Abstentions • CDS (2)	2 / 39	2 / 39
	Absentees • PSOE (1) (on 24 Jul)	0 / 39	1 / 39
Sources[7][8]

1990 motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence Jaime Blanco (PSOE)
Ballot →		23 November 1990
Required majority →		20 out of 39 Y
	Yes • PSOE (12) • PP (7) • PRC (3) • CDS (2) • Independents (2)	26 / 39
	No • UPCA (11) • PNC (1)	12 / 39
	Abstentions • PSOE (1)	1 / 39
	Absentees	0 / 39
Sources[7]

Notes

1. Data for AP–PDP–UL in the 1983 election.
2. Within CP.
3. Result for PCE.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Se mantendrán las grandes líneas con ascenso de centristas y comunistas" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
2. "Una encuesta de AP pronostica un fuerte descenso del PSOE en las municipales". ABC (in Spanish). 17 April 1987.
3. "Notable descenso del PSOE en los próximos comicios, según una encuesta encargada por AP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 17 April 1987.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of Cantabria of 1981". Organic Law No. 8 of 30 December 1981. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 September 2017.
2. "Regional Assembly of Cantabria Elections Law of 1987". Law No. 5 of 27 March 1987. Official Gazette of Cantabria (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 September 2017.
3. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
4. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
5. "Regional election, 10 June 1987". parlamento-cantabria.es (in Spanish). Parliament of Cantabria. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
6. "Number 75. Audit report on the regularity of electoral accounting derived from the elections held on June 10, 1987" (PDF). tcu.es (in Spanish). Court of Auditors. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
7. "Parliament of Cantabria elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
8. "Elegidos los presidentes autonómicos de La Rioja, Asturias y Cantabria". El País (in Spanish). 25 July 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.