| Election Name: | 6th General Assembly of Cs |
| Flag Image: | Logo oficial Ciudadanos.svg |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 5th General Assembly of Citizens (Spanish political party) |
| Previous Year: | 2020 |
| Opinion Polls: |
|
| Registered: | 7,642 |
| Turnout: | 3,795 (49.7%) |
| Election Date: | 11–12 January 2023 14–15 January 2023 |
| Candidate1: | Patricia Guasp Adrián Vázquez |
| Colour1: | 1F2D57 |
| 1Data1: | 2,021 (53.3%) |
| 2Data1: | Unopposed |
| Candidate2: | Edmundo Bal Santiago Saura |
| Colour2: | E35F2B |
| 1Data2: | 1,493 (39.3%) |
| 2Data2: | Eliminated |
| Candidate3: | Marcos Morales Laura Alves |
| Colour3: | ED9E43 |
| 1Data3: | 281 (7.4%) |
| 2Data3: | Eliminated |
| Leader | |
| Before Election: | Inés Arrimadas (President) |
| After Election: | Patricia Guasp (Spokesperson) Adrián Vázquez (Secretary-General) |
The 6th General Assembly of Citizens was held between 9 and 15 January 2023, to renovate the leading bodies of the Citizens Party (Cs) and refound the party. On 21 June 2022, Inés Arrimadas called for a process of refoundation of the party following the succession of defeats in the Madrilenian, Castilian-Leonese and Andalusian elections where the party saw its representation drop to 0 or 1 seats.[1] [2] Following the conclusion of the refoundation, a bicephalous leadership was enforced separating in the positions of Secretary-General and Political Spokesperson.[3]
On 26 December 2022, it was announced that the congress slogan would be "Radicalmente Libres" (Spanish; Castilian: Radically free).[4] The leadership election saw the joint list formed by Patricia Guasp and Adrián Vázquez and supported by the outgoing president Inés Arrimadas win with 53.3% of the vote, thus defeating the candidacy of Edmundo Bal, who got 39.3% of the vote. A grassroot candidacy formed by Marcos Morales and Laura Alves managed to get 7.4% of the sare.[5]
| Candidate | Age | Notable positions | Announced | Eliminated | Campaign | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elected | ||||||||
| Candidates elected as Secretary-General and Political Spokesperson. | ||||||||
| Patricia Guasp | Regional Coordinator of Citizens Balearic Islands (since 2020) Member of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands for Mallorca (since 2019) | 23 December 2022 | Elected | [6] [7] [8] | ||||
| Adrián Vázquez | Member of the European Parliament for Spain (since 2020) | |||||||
Proclaimed | ||||||||
| Candidates who met the endorsement requirement and were officially proclaimed to contest the primary election. | ||||||||
| Edmundo Bal | Vice-Secretary General of Citizens (since 2021) Member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid (since 2019) | 2 December 2022 | 12 January 2023 | [9] [10] [11] [12] | ||||
| Santiago Saura | 48 | City Councillor of Madrid (since 2019) | 21 December 2022 | |||||
| Marcos Morales | 19 | None | 27 December 2022 | 12 January 2023 | [13] [14] [15] | |||
| Laura Alves | 29 | City Councillor of El Álamo (since 2022) | ||||||
Announced | ||||||||
| Candidates who announced an intention to run for the primary election, but were rejected as a result of not meeting the endorsement requirement. | ||||||||
| Pablo Biarge | ? | None | 28 December 2022 | 29 December 2022 | — | |||
The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:
Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of at least 1.5% of the total party members (115 endorsements).
| Endorsements | ||||||
| Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patricia Guasp/Adrián Vázquez | 1,367 | 17.89 | 60.89 | |||
| Edmundo Bal/Santiago Saura | 679 | 8.89 | 30.24 | |||
| Marcos Morales/Laura Alves | 142 | 1.86 | 6.33 | |||
| Pablo Biarge | 57 | 0.75 | 2.54 | |||
| Total | 2,245 | |||||
| Valid endorsements | 2,245 | 29.38 | ||||
| Not endorsing | 5,397 | 70.62 | ||||
| Total members | 7,642 | |||||
| Sources[22] | ||||||
| Organisers | Moderator(s) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| |||||
| 4 January | Cs | David Ferrero | [23] | ||||
| 9 January | Cs | David Ferrero | [24] | ||||
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 Cs 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.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other /None | Lead | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary election | 11–12 Jan 2023 | – | 39.3 | – | 53.3 | 7.4 | – | 14.0 | ||||
| ElectoPanel/Electomanía[25] | 9 Jan 2023 | 434 | – | 32.1 | – | 57.2 | 10.7 | – | – | 25.1 | ||
| ElectoPanel/Electomanía[26] | 9–13 Dec 2022 | 1,007 | 29.5 | 59.5 | – | – | – | – | – | 11.0 | 30.0 | |
| SocioMétrica/El Español[27] | 6–10 Dec 2022 | 3,042 | 24.6 | 24.5 | 34.3 | – | – | – | 16.6 | 9.7 | ||
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other /None | Lead | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElectoPanel/Electomanía | 9–13 Dec 2022 | 1,007 | 25.0 | 54.1 | – | – | 20.9 | 29.1 | |
| SocioMétrica/El Español | 6–10 Dec 2022 | 3,042 | 16.3 | 27.2 | 23.2 | 33.3 | 4.0 | ||
| Candidate | Primary | Assembly | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Patricia Guasp/Adrián Vázquez | 2,021 | 53.25 | Unopposed | |||
| Edmundo Bal/Santiago Saura | 1,493 | 39.34 | colspan="2" | |||
| Marcos Morales/Laura Alves | 281 | 7.41 | colspan="2" | |||
| Total | 3,795 | colspan="2" | ||||
| Valid votes | 3,795 | 100.00 | rowspan="4" colspan="2" | |||
| Invalid and blank ballots | 0 | 0.00 | ||||
| Votes cast / turnout | 3,795 | 49.66 | ||||
| Abstentions | 3,847 | 50.34 | ||||
| Registered voters | 7,642 | 390 | ||||
| Sources[28] | ||||||