2020 Citizens (Spanish political party) leadership election

The 2020 Citizens leadership election—officially the 2020 Citizens Extraordinary Congress—will be held on 15 March 2020 and will be convened by the caretaker commission of the Citizens party, after the resignation of party leader Albert Rivera on 11 November 2019. Rivera's decision was made one day after obtaining the worst electoral result of the party.[1][2][3]

2020 Citizens leadership election

7–8 March 2020 (primary) 14–15 March 2020 (congress)
Registered	20,713
Turnout	12,328 (59.5%)
Candidate Inés Arrimadas Francisco Igea Ximo Aparici Popular vote 9,481 2,752 94 Percentage 76.9% 22.3% 0.8%
President before election Manuel García Bofill (acting) Elected President Inés Arrimadas

Candidates

Declared candidates

Candidate			Political offices	Ref.
Inés Arrimadas (age 38)			Deputy in the Cortes Generales for Barcelona (since 2019) Other positions Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Congress of Deputies (since 2019) Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Catalonia (2015–2019) Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Parliament of Catalonia (2015–2015) Deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia (for Barcelona) (2012–2019)	[4][5][6][7]
Francisco Igea (age 55)			Vice President of Castile and León (since 2019) Other positions Minister of Transparency, Land Management and External Action of the Junta of Castilla and León (2019–) Spokesperson of Castile and León (2019–) Member of the Cortes of Castile and León (2019–) Member of the Congress of Deputies (2016–2019)	[8][9][10]
Ximo Aparici			None	[11]

Expressed interest

Declined

• Albert Rivera (age 39) — Member of the Congress of Deputies (2015–2019); Member of the Catalan Parliament (2006–2015); Leader of the Citizens Party (2006–2019)[2]
• Luis Garicano (age 52) — Member of the European Parliament (for Spain) (since 2019)[12]
• Ignacio Aguado (age 36) — Vice President of the Community of Madrid (since 2019); Minister of Sports and Transparency of the Community of Madrid (since 2019); Government Spokesperson of the Community of Madrid (since 2019); Deputy in the Assembly of Madrid (since 2015)[13][5][14]
• Begoña Villacís (age 42) — Deputy Mayor of Madrid (since 2019); City Councillor of Madrid (since 2015)[5][15]

Endorsements

Inés Arrimadas

Inés Arrimadas' endorsements

Luis Garicano, Member of the European Parliament (for Spain) (since 2019)[12] Ignacio Aguado, Vice President of the Community of Madrid (since 2019), Minister of Sports and Transparency of the Community of Madrid (since 2019), Government Spokesperson of the Community of Madrid (since 2019), Deputy in the Assembly of Madrid (since 2015)[14] Begoña Villacís, Deputy Mayor of Madrid (since 2019), City Councillor of Madrid (since 2015)[15] Juan Marín, Vice President of the Regional Government of Andalusia (since 2019), Regional Minister of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of Andalusia (since 2019), Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Parliament of Andalusia (2015–2019), Member of the Parliament of Andalusia (since 2015)[16] Eduardo de Castro, Mayor-President of Melilla (since 2019), Member of the Assembly of Melilla (since 2015)[17] Toni Cantó, Member of the Corts Valencianes (for Castellón) (since 2019), Member of the Congress of Deputies (for Valencia) (2011–2015; 2016–2019)[18]

Results

Summary of the March 2020 Citizens leadership election results

Candidate		Primary: 7–8 March 2020		Congress: 14–15 March 2020
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	Inés Arrimadas	9,481	76.91
	Francisco Igea	2,752	22.32
	Ximo Aparici	94	0.76
Total		12,327		N/A
Valid votes		12,327	99.99	N/A
Invalid and blank ballots		1	0.01
Votes cast / turnout		12,328	59.52
Abstentions		8,385	40.48
Registered voters		20,713
Sources[19][20]

Vote by party members Arrimadas   76.91% Igea   22.32% Aparici   0.76%

References

Other

1. "Albert Rivera se marcha y dimite como líder de Ciudadanos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
2. "Albert Rivera abandona la política". El País (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
3. "Cs entronizará al sucesor de Rivera el 15 de marzo". elPeriódicodearagon (in Spanish). 30 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
4. "Ciudadanos abre la pugna de la sucesión pendiente de la decisión de Inés Arrimadas". ABC España (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
5. "Arrimadas, Aguado y Villacís, en la línea de salida para liderar el nuevo Ciudadanos". Público (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
6. "Inés Arrimadas confirma candidatura para liderar Ciudadanos". NPE (in Spanish). 18 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
7. "Inés Arrimadas confirma en Más de uno que se presentará para liderar Ciudadanos". Ondacero (in Spanish). 27 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
8. "Francisco Igea reta a Arrimadas: o hay cambios en Ciudadanos o competirá por liderar el partido". El Español (in Spanish). 3 March 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
9. "Igea se plantea ser rival de Arrimadas en las primarias de Ciudadanos". El Español (in Spanish). 26 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
10. "Francisco Francisco Igea: "Presentaré una candidatura para liderar Cs. Hay que evitar una fusión fría con el PP"". El País (in Spanish). 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
11. "Arrimadas e Igea tendrán otro rival en las primarias de Ciudadanos, un militante valenciano" (in Spanish). RTVE. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
12. "Garicano ve a Arrimadas como una candidata "excelente" para presidir Cs". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
13. "Ignacio Aguado hará valer el peso de la Comunidad de Madrid en la sucesión de Albert Rivera". ABC España (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
14. "Ignacio Aguado anima a Arrimadas a liderar Ciudadanos". EFE (in Spanish). 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
15. "Villacís apoya a Arrimadas para liderar Cs: "Estamos todos con ella"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
16. "Juan Marín ve a Arrimadas «la única persona» que puede liderar Cs tras Rivera". Gaceta (in Spanish). 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
17. "El presidente de Melilla respalda a Inés Arrimadas para presidir Ciudadanos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
18. "Toni Cantó apoya a Inés Arrimadas para liderar Ciudadanos: "Es la persona perfecta"". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
19. "Inés Arrimadas gana las primarias a la presidencia de Ciudadanos". www.ciudadanos-cs.org (in Spanish). Ciudadanos. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
20. "Inés Arrimadas se impone en las primarias de Ciudadanos y triplica en votos a su rival, Francisco Igea". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.