Pedro Sanchez: Who is Spain's new prime minister?

Leader of centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party succeeds Mariano Rajoy as parliament passes no-confidence motion in wake of cash-for-contracts scandal

Pedro Sanchez, 46, leader of Spain’s centre-left Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) is the country’s new prime minister, succeeding scandal-hit Mariano Rajoy.

The incumbent, in power since 2011, lost a no-confidence motion in parliament in Madrid on Friday morning, tabled by PSOE after his People’s Party (PP) became embroiled in a cash-for-contracts kickbacks controversy.

Last week 29 PP affiliates were convicted of a range of financial misdemeanours, from tax evasion to money-laundering. One former party treasurer was jailed for 33 years and the PP was fined £210,000 by the country’s highest criminal court.

Mr Sanchez had lobbied for Mr Rajoy to resign over the affair and spare himself the humiliation of the vote, a call that provoked an angry reaction from the under-fire former premier, accusing Mr Sanchez of manipulating the situation for political gain and mocking him for sounding like “Mother Theresa”.

Mr Rajoy also warned that should Mr Sanchez win he would be leading the country at the helm of a “Frankenstein” coalition government comprised of fractious regional parties, including those calling for Catalan independence.

That has now come to pass, with PSOE winning support for its motion from leftwing anti-austerity party Podemos and a collection of smaller parties to instal Mr Sanchez as PM in place of Mr Rajoy’s PP administration, itself ruling with a minority after failing to win two successive general elections in 2015 and 2016.

Gracious in defeat, Mr Rajoy congratulated Mr Sanchez, who is now responsible for the EU’s fifth-largest economy.

“Today, democracy has won,” Mr Sanchez said. “A new era in Spanish politics is beginning. I am reaching out to all the parliamentary groups to open these new times and I hope that we are all up to the responsibilities that we have ahead of us.”

Pedro Sanchez was born in Madrid in 1972 and is a business and economics graduate from the city’s Complutense University. He subsequently earned three master’s degrees, the first of which was at the Free University of Brussels in 1998.

Spain’s new prime minister and Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez leaves the chamber after a motion of no-confidence vote at parliament in Madrid on 1 June 2018 (Sergio Perez/Reuters) (Reuters)

Mr Sanchez first joined PSOE as a student in 1993 and, having completed his studies, served as chief of staff to the UN high representative to Bosnia during the Kosovo conflict in 1999.

He became a Madrid city councillor in 2004 and served for five years before being elected as a PSOE MP to the Congress of Deputies for Madrid in 2009. Losing his seat in 2011, he returned to academia and was awarded a doctorate in economics from the Camilo Jose Cela University in 2012. Before returning to Congress in 2013, he combined consultancy work with a stint as a university professor.

He was elected as PSOE leader in 2014 on a platform of constitutional reform, progressive fiscal policies and extended welfare rights. In December 2015, following the election stalemate, he was invited to form a coalition government by the King of Spain but was unable to do so, creating divisions within the PSOE ranks.

Following a second inconclusive ballot six months later, he was deposed in October 2016, having refused to play a part in enabling Mr Rajoy’s return to office.

Resigning his seat, he went on a political road trip to reconnect with Spanish voters, a gamble that paid off when he returned to cruise to victory against Susana Diaz in a new party leadership contest. Today’s events therefore cap a remarkable comeback.

Mr Sanchez is married with two daughters, is an atheist and enjoys basketball and languages, speaking fluent English and French.