Spain’s Socialist party would maintain lead, polls show

Spain’s Socialist party would win a November election and gain more seats, two polls showed yesterday, but it would fall short of a majority and would still need support from other parties to form a government.

The Socialists finished first in an inconclusive national election in April but acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has failed to form a government with other parties, meaning the country is headed to its fourth election in as many years on Nov. 10.

The two main traditional parties that have dominated the political landscape since Spain’s entry into democracy in the 1970s – the Socialist PSOE and the conservative People’s Party (PP) – would both gain seats in an election, the polls showed.

This is at the expense of the new parties that emerged following the financial crisis at the beginning of the decade such as far left Unidas Podemos, centre-right Ciudadanos and far right Vox.

The Socialists and Unidas Podemos were unable to form a coalition government after the April election despite months of talks. — Reuters