United Left (Spain)
United Left Izquierda Unida | |
---|---|
General Coordinator | Alberto Garzón |
Founded | April 1986 |
Membership | 71,578 |
Ideology |
Communism[1][2] Eurocommunism Republicanism[1] Environmentalism[1] Federalism |
Political position | Left-wing[1] |
National affiliation | Unidos Podemos |
European affiliation | Party of the European Left |
European Parliament group | European United Left–Nordic Green Left |
Colours |
Dark red Green |
Congress of Deputies |
8 / 350 5 elected inside Unidos Podemos, 2 inside En Comú Podem and 1 inside En Marea. |
Spanish Senate |
1 / 266 Elected inside the coalition En Marea |
European Parliament |
4 / 54 |
Regional Parliaments |
20 / 1,268 |
Local Government (2015) |
2,022 / 67,515 (Candidates gained in coalitions or unitary lists[3] not included) |
Website | |
www.izquierda-unida.es | |
United Left (Spanish: Izquierda Unida [iθˈkjerða uˈniða], IU) is a political coalition that was organized in 1986, bringing together several left-wing political organizations.[4]
IU was founded as an electoral coalition of seven parties, but the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) is the only remaining integrated member of the IU at the national level.[4] Despite that, IU brings together other regional parties, political organizations, and independents.[4]
History
Following the electoral failure of the PCE in 1982 (from 10% to 4%), PCE leaders believed that the PCE alone could no longer effectively challenge the electoral hegemony of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) on the left.[4] With this premise, the PCE began developing closer relations with other left-wing groups, with the vision of forming a broad left coalition.[4] IU slowly improved its results, reaching 9% in 1989 (1,800,000 votes) and nearly 11% in 1996 (2,600,000 votes). The founding organizations were: Communist Party of Spain, Progressive Federation, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain, PASOC, Carlist Party, Humanist Party, Unitarian Candidacy of Workers and Republican Left.
In contrast to the PCE prior to the formation of IU, which pursued a more moderate political course, the new IU adopted a more radical strategy and ideology of confrontation against the PSOE.[2][4] IU generally opposed cooperating with the PSOE, and identified it as a "right-wing party", no different from the People's Party (PP).[2][4]
After achieving poor results in the 1999 local and European elections, IU decided to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards the PSOE, and agreed to sign an electoral pact with the PSOE for the upcoming general election in 2000.[4] They also adopted a universal policy in favor of cooperating with the PSOE at local level.[4]
Following the election of Cayo Lara as leader in 2008, however, the party has shifted back towards a more confrontational attitude towards the PSOE.
IU currently has around 70,000 members.[5]
Member parties
- Communist Party of Spain
- Communist Youth Union of Spain
- Feminist Party of Spain
- Izquierda Abierta
- Republican Left
- Revolutionary Workers' Party
- Ecosocialists of the Region of Murcia
Federations of IU
- Andalusia: Izquierda Unida Los Verdes - Convocatoría por Andalucía (United Left/The Greens - Assembly for Andalusia)
- Aragon: Izquierda Unida Aragón (United Left of Aragon)
- Asturias: Izquierda Xunida de Asturies (United Left of Asturias)
- Balearic Islands: United Left of the Balearic Islands (United Left of the Balearic Islands)
- Canary Islands: Izquierda Unida Canaria (Canarian United Left)
- Cantabria: Izquierda Unida de Cantabria (Cantabrian United Left)
- Castilla-La Mancha: Izquierda Unida - Izquierda de Castilla-La Mancha (United Left - Castilla-La Mancha Left)
- Catalonia: None[6]
- Castilla y León: Izquierda Unida de Castilla y León (United Left of Castile and León)
- Ceuta: Izquierda Unida de Ceuta (United Left of Ceuta)
- Euskadi: Izquierda Unida - Los Verdes: Ezker Anitza (United Left - The Greens: Plural Left)
- Extremadura: Izquierda Unida - Federación de Extremadura (United Left - Extremadura Federation)
- Galicia: Esquerda Unida (United Left of Galicia)
- La Rioja: Izquierda Unida - La Rioja (United Left-La Rioja)
- Madrid: None.[7] Izquierda Unida de la Comunidad de Madrid (United Left of the Community of Madrid) was expelled in 2015. Currently in the process of creating a new federation without a separate legal entity.
- Melilla: Izquierda Unida - Federación de Melilla (United Left - Melilla Federation)
- Murcia: Izquierda Unida - Región de Murcia (United Left - Region of Murcia)
- Navarra: Izquierda Unida de Navarra - Nafarroako Ezker Batua (United Left of Navarra)
- Valencian Community: Esquerra Unida del País Valencià (United Left of the Valencian Country)
Leaders
Name | Period | Notes |
---|---|---|
Gerardo Iglesias | 1986 | |
Julio Anguita | 1986–1999 | |
Francisco Frutos | 1999-2001 | |
Gaspar Llamazares | 2001–2008 | |
Cayo Lara | 2008–2014 | |
Alberto Garzón | 2014-present |
Electoral performance
Cortes Generales
Election | Leader | Votes | % | # | Seats | Outcome | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Congress | Senate | |||||||
1986 | Gerardo Iglesias | 935,504 | 4.63 | #5 | 7 / 350 |
0 / 208 |
PSOE majority | Includes PCE, UEC, PCPE and FP |
1989 | Julio Anguita | 1,858,588 | 9.07 | #3 | 17 / 350 |
1 / 208 |
PSOE minority | Includes PCE, IC and PASOC |
1993 | 2,253,722 | 9.55 | #3 | 18 / 350 |
0 / 208 |
PSOE minority | Includes PCE, IC, PASOC and independents | |
1996 | 2,639,774 | 10.54 | #3 | 21 / 350 |
0 / 208 |
PP minority | Includes PCE, NI, IC and PASOC | |
2000 | Francisco Frutos | 1,263,043 | 5.45 | #3 | 8 / 350 |
0 / 208 |
PP majority | Includes PCE and independents |
2004 | Gaspar Llamazares | 1,284,081 | 4.96 | #3 | 5 / 350 |
1 / 208 |
PSOE minority | Includes PCE, ICV–EUiA and independents |
2008 | 969,946 | 3.77 | #3 | 2 / 350 |
1 / 208 |
PSOE minority | Includes PCE and ICV–EUiA | |
2011 | Cayo Lara | 1,686,040 | 6.92 | #3 | 8 / 350 |
0 / 208 |
PP majority | Within Plural Left Includes PCE, IA and EUiA |
2015 | Alberto Garzón | 926,783 | 3.68 | #5 | 2 / 350 |
0 / 208 |
New election | Within Popular Unity Includes PCE and independents |
2016 | 5,087,538 | 21.15 | #3 | 4 / 350 |
1 / 208 |
PP majority | Within Unidos Podemos Includes PCE |
European Parliament
Election | Candidate | Votes | % | # | Seats |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | Fernando Pérez Royo | 1,011,830 | 5.25 | #4 | 3 / 60 |
1989 | 961,742 | 6.06 | #4 | 4 / 60 | |
1994 | Alonso Puerta | 2,497,671 | 13.44 | #3 | 9 / 64 |
1999 | 1,221,566 | 5.77 | #3 | 4 / 64 | |
2004 | Willy Meyer | 643,136 | 4.15 | #4 | 2 / 54 |
2009 | 588,248 | 3.71 | #4 | 2 / 54 | |
2014[c 1] | 1,575,308 | 10.03 | #3 | 6 / 54 |
- Footnotes
- ↑ Within Plural Left.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "European Social Survey 2012 - Appendix 3 (in English)" (PDF). European Science Foundation. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
- 1 2 3 Topaloff, L (2012) Political Parties and Euroscepticism, pp192-193
- ↑ Like Ahora Madrid, Barcelona en Comú or Marea Atlántica. This lists gained 3,223 town councillors.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Electoral incentives and organisational limits. The evolution of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the United Left (IU) (in English)" (PDF). Institute of Political and Social Sciences. 2002. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ↑ Entre coalición y partido, la evolución de modelo organizativo en IU, Luis Ramiro Archived March 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Following the tradition of the Spanish left since the formation of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) in 1936 (when communists and socialists joined forces in Catalunya), IU doesn't have any organization of its own in Catalonia. Until 1998 the referent of IU in Catalonia was Initiative for Catalonia (Iniciativa per Catalunya, now known as IC-V). But IC eventually broke relations with IU. A split in PSUC followed and a new Catalonian alliance, United and Alternative Left (Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, EUiA) was formed as the new Catalonian referent of IU.
- ↑ IU rompe "a todos los efectos" con su federación madrileña. El Diario, 14/06/2015 - 10:48h. Aitor Rivero.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Izquierda Unida. |
- Official website
- Izquierda Unida Los Verdes - Convocatoría por Andalucía
- Izquierda Unida Aragón
- Izquierda Xunida d'Asturies
- Izquierda Unida de Cantabria
- Izquierda Unida - Izquierda de Castilla-La Mancha
- Esquerda Unida-Izquierda Unida
- Esquerra Unida de les Illes Balears
- Izquierda Unida - La Rioja
- Izquierda Unida de la Comunidad de Madrid
- Izquierda Unida de Navarra - Nafarroako Ezker Batua
- Esquerra Unida del País Valencià