Cantabrian parliamentary election, 2003

25 May 2003

All 39 seats in the Parliament of Cantabria 20 seats needed for a majority

Opinion polls
Registered	476,924 2.5%
Turnout	348,377 (73.0%) 4.2 pp
	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	José Joaquín Martínez Sieso	Dolores Gorostiaga	Miguel Ángel Revilla
Party	PP	PSOE	PRC
Leader since	1995	16 December 2000	1983
Last election	19 seats, 42.5%	14 seats, 33.1%	6 seats, 13.5%
Seats won	18	13	8
Seat change	1	1	2
Popular vote	146,796	103,608	66,480
Percentage	42.5%	30.0%	19.2%
Swing	±0.0 pp	3.1 pp	5.7 pp

President before election

José Joaquín Martínez Sieso
PP

Elected President

Miguel Ángel Revilla
PRC

The 2003 Cantabrian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th Parliament of Cantabria, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Cantabria. At stake were all 39 seats in the Parliament, determining the President of Cantabria.

Both the People's Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) lost 1 seat each to the Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC), which won 8 seats. As neither had won an absolute majority, the PRC reinforced its position as parliamentary kingmaker, able to give the government to either of the two parties.^[1] The PRC, in a coalition with the PP since 1995, announced that it was not renewing the pact a third time due to "deteriorating relations" between both parties after 8 years of government, and that it would instead seek an alliance with the PSOE.^[2]

As a result of the election, PSOE and PRC reached a coalition agreement in which Miguel Ángel Revilla from the PRC was to be elected as regional President.^[3]

Electoral system

The number of seats in the Parliament of Cantabria was set to a fixed-number of 39. All Parliament members were elected in a single multi-member district, consisting of the Community's territory (the province of Cantabria), using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system.

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of valid votes in all of the community (which include blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.^[4]

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. 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 results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PSOE	PRC	IU	Oth.	Lead
Date	Polling Firm/Source					Oth.	Lead
25 May 2003	Regional Election	42.5	30.0	19.2	3.7	4.6	12.5
Exit polls
22 Mar–28 Apr	CIS	40.5	33.5	14.4	4.8	6.8	7.0
2003
2002
2001
12 Mar 2000	General Election	56.8	33.5	N/A	5.0	4.7	23.3
2000
13 Jun 1999	Regional Election	42.5	33.1	13.5	3.7	7.2	9.4

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. 20 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Cantabria.

20 seats needed for majority
Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PSOE	PRC	IU	Others
Date	Polling Firm/Source					Others
25 May 2003	Regional Election	18	13	8	0	0
25 May	Sigma-2	16−17	16−17	6	0	0
Exit polls
22 Mar–28 Apr	CIS	18	15	6	0	0
2003
2002
2001
12 Mar 2000	General Election	(23)	(14)	N/A	(2)	(0)
2000
13 Jun 1999	Regional Election	19	14	6	0	0

Results

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 Cantabrian Parliament election results →
Party		Vote			Seats

Party		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	146,796	42.49	0.01	18	1
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	103,608	29.99	3.09	13	1
	Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)	66,480	19.24	5.73	8	2

	United Left of Cantabria (IU)	12,770	3.70	0.01	0	±0
	Cantabrian Unity (UCn)	5,515	1.60	New	0	±0
	Cantabrian Nationalist Council (CNC)	1,670	0.48	0.11	0	±0
	Independent Citizens of Cantabria (CCIIC)	817	0.24	0.05	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	660	0.19	0.28	0	±0
	Blank ballots	7,202	2.08	0.35

Total		345,518	100.00		39	±0

Valid votes		345,518	99.18	0.03
Invalid votes		2,859	0.82	0.03
Votes cast / turnout		348,377	73.05	4.27
Abstentions		128,547	26.95	4.27
Registered voters		476,924

Source: Argos Information Portal

Vote share

PP			42.49%
PSOE			29.99%
PRC			19.24%
IU			3.70%
UCn			1.60%
Others			0.91%
Blank ballots			2.08%

Parliamentary seats

PP			46.15%
PSOE			33.33%
PRC			20.51%

Post-election

Investiture voting

27 June 2003 Investiture voting for Miguel Ángel Revilla (PRC) Absolute majority: 20/39
Vote	Parties	Votes
Y Yes	PSOE (13), PRC (8)	21 / 39
No	PP (18)	18 / 39
Abstentions		0 / 39
Source: El País

References

↑ "The regionalists, again key in forming a government in Cantabria" (in Spanish). El País. 2003-05-26.
↑ "The PP acknowledges its loss of Cantabria as opposition pact grows likely" (in Spanish). El País. 2003-06-04.
↑ "The regionalists rob the presidency of Cantabria from the PP and will govern with the PSOE" (in Spanish). El País. 2003-06-05.
↑ "Law 5/1987, of 27 March, of elections to the Parliament of Cantabria".

Elections in Cantabria

Parliamentary elections	1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 next

General elections	1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011 2015 2016 next

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