José Manuel Franco

José Manuel Franco Pardo (born 1957) is a Spanish politician. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he has been the Secretary-General of the PSOE of the Community of Madrid since September 2017.

José Manuel Franco
In August 2018
Member of the Assembly of Madrid
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 June 1995
Monforte de Lemos city councillor
In office 1984–1986
Personal details
Born	(1957-09-08) 8 September 1957 A Pobra do Brollón
Citizenship	Spanish
Political party	PSOE (since 1981)
Occupation	Politician, civil servant, teacher

Early life

Born in A Pobra do Brollón (province of Lugo) on 8 September 1957, soon after his family moved to Monforte de Lemos.[1] Franco, who dropped university studies in Mathematics early, graduated in law.[n. 1] From 1982 to 1987 he worked as math teacher.[3] He is a career civil servant in the Ministry of Defence. Franco, who had joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in 1981,[1] was a member of the Monforte de Lemos city council from 1984 to 1986.[3]

Regional MP

He became a member of the Assembly of Madrid for the first time after the 1995 regional election.[4] He renovated his seat in the 1999, May 2003, October 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 elections.

During this spell in the regional legislature, he has served as PSOE spokesperson in the Job Commission, president of the Budget Commission, and as spokesman in the Commission of Transport and Infraestructures. After the forced resignation of Tomás Gómez in February 2015, he became the spokesman of the parliamentary group. After the 2015 election, he became deputy spokesman second to Ángel Gabilondo.[4]

PSOE regional leader in Madrid

In 2017, Franco endorsed Pedro Sánchez in the PSOE primary election campaign, becoming one of Sánchez's most trusted advisors during the campaign.[5] Franco defended the notion that in a federal plurinational state result of a potential reform of the Constitution, Madrid, as one of the entities of that State, in the case it had to be a "nation", so be it, "we should not be scared of the name".[6][7] He contested the September 2017 primary election to the leadership of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of the Community of Madrid (PSOE-M). He won the process (with a support of the 71% of the voters) and became the new Secretary-General of the organization.[8]

Notes

1. From 1995 to 2003 his CV as member of the Assembly of Madrid featured a wrong degree in Mathematics. Corrected from 2003 forward, this caused stir in the media in 2018, as it was revealed in the wider context of the Cifuentes scandal regarding academic titles, and the alleged fraudulent obtention of one of them by the then president of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes.[2]

References

1. "El monfortino que aspira a liderar el PSOE-M: "Madrid sería una nación en un Estado plurinacional"". El Progreso. 16 August 2017.
2. Sánchez, Esther (12 April 2018). "El PP apela a un currículo falseado del portavoz adjunto socialista para defender a Cifuentes". El País.
3. "Franco, líder del PSM, falseó su currículum y añadió una licenciatura que no tenía". El Mundo. 12 April 2018.
4. Romero, Juanma (16 September 2017). "Cinco candidatos y un favorito: el mapa de la batalla socialista por Madrid". El Confidencial.
5. Gil, Pablo (20 June 2017). "José Manuel Franco, un escudero para dirigir el PSOE de Madrid". El Mundo.
6. "El candidato José Manuel Franco dice que Madrid sería una "nación" según el Estado plurinacional que propone el PSOE". eldiario.es. 14 August 2017.
7. "El candidato a liderar el PSOE regional José Manuel Franco dice que Madrid sería una "nación" según el modelo de Estado plurinacional". InfoLibre. 14 August 2017.
8. Bécares, Roberto (30 September 2017). "José Manuel Franco, el candidato de Pedro Sánchez, arrasa en las primarias del PSOE madrileño". El Mundo.

Party political offices
Preceded by Sara Hernández Barroso	Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of the Community of Madrid Since 30 September 2017	Incumbent