Irene de Miguel explained

Irene de Miguel Pérez (born 9 May 1981) is a Spanish Podemos politician. She was elected to the Assembly of Extremadura in 2015, and has led Podemos Extremadura in the legislature since 2019.

Biography

Born in Madrid, De Miguel qualified as an agricultural engineer at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. In 2011, she moved to the remote Las Villuercas comarca of the Province of Cáceres, Extremadura to cultivate specialist fruit trees.^[1] She was one of six Podemos members elected to the Assembly of Extremadura in 2015.^[2]

In November 2018, De Miguel received 93% of the votes to lead Podemos in the 2019 Extremaduran regional election.^[3] She ran in the Badajoz constituency this time, and her party dropped to four seats.^[4] In June 2020, she ran unopposed to succeed Álvaro Jaén as secretary general of Podemos in the region, and was elected with 94.98% of votes.^[5]

In the 2023 Extremaduran regional election, Podemos remained on four seats but dropped 8,000 votes. The party failed to win enough seats to be the junior partner in a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)-led coalition government, as the regional power went to the People's Party (PP) and Vox. She told regional newspaper Hoy that her party were unable to connect to voters.^[6]

Notes and References

1. News: Irene de Miguel: Los cuidados deben ser "una corresponsabilidad de hombres y mujeres". Irene de Miguel: Raising children must be "a shared responsibility for men and women". 28 March 2021 . Región Digital . 24 February 2019 . Spanish.
2. News: López-Lago . J. . Las nuevas caras de la política extremeña. The new faces of Extremaduran politics . 28 March 2021 . . 31 May 2015 . Spanish.
3. News: Irene de Miguel será la candidata de Podemos a la Presidencia de la Junta tras obtener el 93% de apoyos en las primarias. Irene de Miguel will be Podemos' candidate for the Presidency of the Junta after obtaining 93% of votes in the primaries. 28 March 2021 . . 21 November 2018 . Spanish.
4. News: Irene de Miguel: "No son los resultados que esperábamos, pero vamos a seguir trabajando". Irene de Miguel: "These aren't the results we were hoping for, but we will carry on working". 28 March 2021 . Hoy . 27 May 2019 . Spanish.
5. News: Irene de Miguel, nueva coordinadora regional de Podemos. Irene de Miguel, new regional coordinator of Podemos. 28 March 2021 . . 20 June 2020 . Spanish.
6. News: López Lago . J. . Irene de Miguel: «No hemos conectado con la ciudadanía a la que queremos representar». Irene de Miguel: "We haven't connected to the citizens that we want to represent". 14 June 2024 . Hoy . 11 June 2023 . Spanish.