1987 Madrid City Council election explained

Election Name:1987 Madrid City Council election
Country:City of Madrid
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1983 Madrid City Council election
Previous Year:1983
Next Election:1991 Madrid City Council election
Next Year:1991
Seats For Election:All 55 seats in the City Council of Madrid
Majority Seats:28
Opinion Polls:
  1. Opinion polls
Registered:2,376,010 0.2%
Turnout:1,664,580 (70.1%)
0.7 pp
Election Date:10 June 1987
Leader1:Juan Barranco
Party1:Madrilenian Socialist Federation
Leader Since1:19 January 1986
Last Election1:30 seats, 48.4%
Seats1:24
Seat Change1:6
Popular Vote1:666,199
Percentage1:40.5%
Swing1:7.9 pp
Leader2:José María Álvarez del Manzano
Party2:People's Alliance (Spain)
Leader Since2:10 October 1986
Last Election2:23 seats, 37.8%
Seats2:20
Seat Change2:3
Popular Vote2:555,599
Percentage2:33.8%
Swing2:4.0 pp
Leader3:Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún
Party3:Democratic and Social Centre (Spain)
Leader Since3:16 February 1987
Last Election3:0 seats, 3.0%
Seats3:8
Seat Change3:8
Popular Vote3:247,773
Percentage3:15.1%
Swing3:12.1 pp
Leader4:Ramón Tamames
Party4:IU
Colour4:732021
Leader Since4:19 December 1986
Last Election4:4 seats, 6.8%
Seats4:3
Seat Change4:1
Popular Vote4:100,514
Percentage4:6.1%
Swing4:0.7 pp
Mayor
Before Election:Juan Barranco
Before Party:Madrilenian Socialist Federation
After Election:Juan Barranco
After Party:Madrilenian Socialist Federation

The 1987 Madrid City Council election, also the 1987 Madrid municipal election, was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 3rd City Council of the municipality of Madrid. All 55 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) won the election, but lost its absolute majority and lost 137,000 votes compared to 1983. The People's Alliance (AP), which stood separately after the breakup of the People's Coalition in 1986, failed to meet the level of support reached by the coalition in 1983 and also lost votes and seats. Benefitting from both parties' losses was the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), which, with its 8 seats and 15% of the votes, entered the City Council for its first and only time and went on to hold the balance of power. United Left (IU), an electoral coalition comprising the Communist Party of Spain and other left-wing parties, continued on its long-term decline and lost 1 more seat, barely obtaining 100,000 votes and 6% of the share.

AP and CDS together reached an absolute majority, but failure on reaching an agreement resulted in Socialist Juan Barranco being re-elected as mayor. However, on June 1989, both parties agreed to present a motion of censure on Barranco and elect Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún from the CDS as new mayor, ousting the PSOE from power in the city after a 10-year rule.

Electoral system

The City Council of Madrid (Spanish; Castilian: Ayuntamiento de Madrid) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Madrid, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.[1] [2] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the municipality of Madrid and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-nationals whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council.[1] [2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

PopulationCouncillors
<2505
251–1,0007
1,001–2,0009
2,001–5,00011
5,001–10,00013
10,001–20,00017
20,001–50,00021
50,001–100,00025
>100,001+1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction
+1 if total is an even number

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.[1]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Madrid, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[2]

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 poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 28 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Madrid.

Results

← Summary of the 10 June 1987 City Council of Madrid election results →
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes%±ppTotal+/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)666,199 40.47 –7.9724 –6
People's Alliance (AP)1555,599 33.76 –4.0620 –3
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)247,773 15.05 +12.008 +8
United Left (IU)2100,514 6.11 –0.673 –1
Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC)25,059 1.52 New0 ±0
The Greens (LV)11,129 0.68 New0 ±0
Confederation of the Greens (CV)4,858 0.30 New0 ±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)4,592 0.28 New0 ±0
People's Democratic Party (PDP)3,727 0.23 New0 ±0
Humanist Platform (PH)2,475 0.15 New0 ±0
Spanish Juntas (JJEE)2,362 0.14 New0 ±0
Republican Popular Unity (UPR)31,248 0.08 +0.030 ±0
Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE)1,219 0.07 New0 ±0
Communist Workers' League (LOC)1,164 0.07 New0 ±0
Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI)1,083 0.07 New0 ±0
Blank ballots16,972 1.03 +0.59
Total1,645,973 55 –2
Valid votes1,645,973 98.88 –0.15
Invalid votes18,607 1.12 +0.15
Votes cast / turnout1,664,580 70.06 –0.72
Abstentions711,430 29.94 +0.72
Registered voters2,376,010
Sources[10] [11] [12]

References

Opinion poll sources
Other

Notes and References

  1. Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local . Law . 7 . es . 2 April 1985 . 30 June 2020.
  2. Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General . Organic Law . 5 . es . 19 June 1985 . 30 January 2020.
  3. Web site: El PSOE pierde la mayoría absoluta en la Comunidad y en el Ayuntamiento de Madrid . es . Ya . 4 June 1987.
  4. Web site: El PSOE pierde la mayoría absoluta y el CDS recoge el voto de castigo . es . Ya . 4 June 1987.
  5. Web site: Los votos de AP y CDS podrían evitar que Barranco fuera alcalde de Madrid . es . Ya . 4 June 1987.
  6. Web site: Algunas encuestas electorales plantean un descenso exagerado del PSOE . es . ABC . 5 June 1987.
  7. Web site: Rodríguez Sahagún sería el árbitro para el Ayuntamiento . es . El País . 4 June 1987.
  8. Web site: Un sondeo del CIS para el Gobierno da la mayoría del PSOE en Madrid y Barcelona . es . El País . 4 June 1987.
  9. Web site: Electoral Results Consultation. Congress. June 1986. Madrid Municipality . es . Ministry of the Interior . 12 November 2017.
  10. Web site: Local election results, 10 June 1987 . es . . 16 February 2018.
  11. Web site: Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. June 1987. Madrid Municipality . es . . 12 November 2017.
  12. Web site: Elecciones Municipales en Madrid (1979 - 2015) . es . Historia Electoral.com . 30 September 2017.