21 October 2012 2016 → 15 January 2006 25 April 2009 38 seats, 46.7% 25 seats, 31.0% | Registered 2,697,717 1.9% 25 April 2009 4 September 2012 | |
 | ||
Turnout 1,481,379 (54.9%)
9.5 pp | ||
The 2012 Galician parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 21 October 2012, to elect the 9th Parliament of Galicia, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in the Basque Country.
Contents
This was a snap election held several months before scheduled. Incumbent President Alberto Núñez Feijóo stood for re-election for a 2nd consecutive term in office, running for the People's Party (PP). For the Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG-PSOE) ran its Secretary-General Pachi Vázquez. Former congressman Francisco Jorquera ran for the left-wing Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), while former BNG leader Xosé Manuel Beiras, stood for Galician Left Alternative (AGE), a newly formed left-wing alliance between United Left and Anova, Beiras' split party from BNG.
The election resulted in a surprise result for both Núñez Feijóo, who enlarged his absolute majority from 38 and 41 seats, and Beiras' coalition AGE, which won 200,000 votes and 14% of the share, scoring in third position. In contrast, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party obtained one of the worst results in the history of the party in Galicia. All in all, the enlarged PP majority came as a result of the enormous fragmentation of the left vote within several parties, as Feijóo's party lost almost 130,000 votes from 2009.
Electoral system
The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia were elected in 4 multi-member districts, corresponding to Galicia's four provinces, using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation. Each district was entitled to an initial minimum of 10 seats, with the remaining 35 seats being allocated among the four provinces in proportion to their populations. For the 2012 election, seats were distributed as follows: Corunna (24), Lugo (15), Ourense (14) and Pontevedra (22).
Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of the total vote in each district (which includes blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.
Background
The election was held amid a climate of falling popularity in Mariano Rajoy's government, with the electoral campaign being heavily marked by the austerity measures approved by the People's Party government. In July 2012, a 65 billion euros worth spending cut and a VAT rise from 18% to 21% was passed; such measures being heavily criticised because they were a breach of a key election promise. The PP vote share immediately plummeted in opinion polls from 40% to 34%. This raised fears within Núñez Feijóo's regional government about the possibility of losing the party's absolute majority in the Galician Parliament election scheduled for early 2013.
On 21 August 2012, Basque premier Patxi López announced that he was bringing forward the Basque election date to 21 October 2012, after the People's Party had announced that it was withdrawing its support to López' Socialist government in the Basque Country. As a result, President Feijóo announced that he was calling the election earlier in order for it to coincide with the Basque election.
Party vote
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 leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures.
Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls
Seat projections
Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.
Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls Exit poll