Spain’s conservatives swing to the right with new leader

Spain’s conservatives shifted to the right on Saturday, electing a traditionalist as leader as they seek to re-establish a clear political identity less than two months after being removed from government.

Pablo Casado won a clear victory in the ballot of People’s Party (PP) members, and launched his mandate with a call for party unity, a stronger Spain at the heart of Europe and tougher laws to stave off any moves towards independence by its regions.

He won 1,701 votes in a ballot of lawmakers and other senior PP members, easily seeing off the challenge of Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, who received 1,250. She served as deputy to former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s during his six-plus years in office.

Rajoy was ousted in a noconfidence vote in June, his authority undermined by a corruption scandal involving PP officials and a perceived failure to quell an illegal independence drive in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

Following a leadership race that exposed divisions within the party, Casado told members in his acceptance speech: “The PP is back. We can’t waste another minute speaking about ourselves. We must start talking about Spain again.”

He also said he wanted to strengthen the penal code to avoid any further secessionist moves within the country.

A lawmaker from the northern Spanish city of Palencia, Casado joined the PP in 2003. He has called for a return to traditional conservative values of “life and family” and is on record as opposing abortion.

Rajoy’s departure brought the Socialists into office, and one of the first decisions Casado will face is the extent to which the PP should give parliamentary support to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government. In a message of congratulation on Twitter, Sanchez said he wished Casado “strength for the task ahead” and that the government would strive for economic growth and a reconstructed welfare state.