General elections survey: Feijóo adds 130 seats and Vox 65 versus Sánchez’s 106, according to Sondaxe’s tracking

After a general election, the Prime Minister needs to obtain the confidence of the Congress of Deputies: they are not automatically elected for leading the most voted candidacy. The procedure is structured through a candidate proposal, a parliamentary debate, and one or two votes, with the possibility of new attempts if they fail.

Its framework is Article 99 of the Constitution and Articles 170 to 172 of the Congress Regulations. The decision corresponds to the Congress; the Senate does not vote on the investiture.

1. Constitution of the Congress and candidate proposal

First, the Congress is constituted on the date indicated in the royal decree calling the election. In that session, the Board is elected, including the Presidency of the Chamber, and the deputies take an oath or promise to uphold the Constitution. The Presidency then informs the king that the Congress has been constituted.

The king consults the representatives designated by the political groups with parliamentary representation and, through the Presidency of the Congress, proposes a candidate for the Presidency of the Government. That proposal does not equate to the appointment: the candidate must obtain the required parliamentary support.

2. Convocation and investiture debate

Upon receiving the proposal, the Presidency of the Congress calls the Plenary. According to Articles 170 and 171 of the Regulations, the session follows this sequence:

• One of the persons occupying the Secretariats reads the proposal.
• The candidate presents, without time limit, the political program of the Government they intend to form and requests the confidence of the Chamber.
• After a break agreed by the Presidency, a representative of each parliamentary group that requests it intervenes, for thirty minutes.
• The candidate may respond as many times as requested. The representatives of the groups have ten minutes for a reply, whether the response is individual or joint.

3. First vote: absolute majority

At the time set by the Presidency, the first vote is held. To be invested, the candidate needs the absolute majority of the members of the Congress: more than half of the total, not just of those voting.

The vote is public by roll call. Deputies are named and each responds "yes," "no," or "abstention." Therefore, the vote is public and a secret ballot is not used.

4. Second vote: forty-eight hours later

If the candidate does not obtain an absolute majority, another vote is held forty-eight hours later. This time a simple majority suffices: more favorable votes than opposing. Abstentions are not counted towards either group.

Before voting, the candidate may speak for up to ten minutes. Each group has five minutes to state its position. The initial debate is not repeated in full.

5. Investiture achieved or new attempts

If the candidate obtains confidence in either of the two votes, the Presidency of the Congress informs the king for the purpose of their appointment as Prime Minister.

If they fail in both, successive proposals may be processed through the same procedure. The failure of a candidacy does not by itself trigger new elections nor close the possibility of reaching another parliamentary agreement.

6. Two-month limit and repeat election

If two months pass from the first investiture vote without any candidate obtaining confidence, the General Courts must be dissolved and elections called. The Presidency of the Congress submits the decree for the king's signature and informs the Presidency of the Senate.

The key is when that period starts: not from the elections, consultations, or constitution of the Congress, but from the first vote. Subsequent candidacies do not restart the count.

The Prime Minister's central function is to direct the Government's action and coordinate its members, according to Article 98.2 of the Constitution. Additionally, they propose the appointment and dismissal of ministers and have specific instruments to relate to the Congress and propose early elections. It is important to distinguish their personal powers from those the Constitution grants to the Government as a whole.

Political direction and Government composition

Article 98.2 establishes that the Prime Minister "directs the Government's action and coordinates the functions of the other members." This direction does not eliminate the direct competence and responsibility of each minister in their management: the Prime Minister coordinates, but ministers retain their own responsibilities.

Their function extends over the matters that Article 97 attributes to the Government: domestic and foreign policy, civil and military administration, and State defense. It also includes directing a Government that exercises executive function and regulatory power, that is, applying laws and approving regulations, always in accordance with the Constitution and laws.

According to Article 100, it corresponds to the Prime Minister to propose to the king the appointment and removal of the other Government members. Therefore, the formal decision corresponds to the monarch, but the proposal corresponds to the Prime Minister.

Parliamentary confidence and early elections

• Raising a vote of confidence. Article 112 allows them to ask the Congress to confirm its support for the Government's program or a general policy statement, after deliberation by the Council of Ministers. A simple majority suffices: more favorable votes than opposing.
• Proposing the dissolution of the Chambers. According to Article 115, they can propose the dissolution of the Congress, the Senate, or both Chambers, after deliberation by the Council of Ministers and under their exclusive responsibility. The king decrees it and the decree sets the election date.

This second power has limits: it cannot be exercised while a motion of censure is being processed and, as a general rule, one year must pass between dissolutions. The exception is the investiture deadlock of Article 99.5. Also, Article 116 prevents dissolving the Congress during states of alarm, exception, or siege.

Responsibility and control

The Presidency depends on the confidence of the Congress. In the investiture, the candidate presents their program and requests that support; then, the king appoints them according to Article 99.

The Government is jointly responsible for its political management before the Congress —Article 108— and its members are subject to questions, interpellations, and requests for appearances —Articles 110 and 111—.

If it loses a vote of confidence, the Government must resign. If a motion of censure passes by absolute majority, it resigns and the alternative candidate is invested with parliamentary confidence —Articles 113 and 114—. The resignation or death of the Prime Minister also causes the Government's dismissal, which continues in office until the next takes office —Article 101—.

What does not correspond to the Prime Minister alone

Political direction should not be confused with unlimited individual power. For example, states of alarm and exception correspond to the Government, with the parliamentary requirements of Article 116; the state of siege is declared by the Congress at the exclusive proposal of the Government. The preparation of the Budget also corresponds to the Government, while its approval corresponds to the Cortes —Article 134—.

Source: Spanish Constitution in the BOE.

The previous general elections held in Spain were on July 23, 2023. In the Congress of Deputies, the PP obtained 137 seats, the PSOE got 121, and Vox achieved 33. PP was first, PSOE second, and Vox third, both in votes and parliamentary representation (23J results).

Results of each party

These are the vote percentages, rounded to one decimal place, and the final distribution of deputies. The figures correspond to the Congress: they should not be confused with Senate results or with estimates from later polls.

• People's Party: 33.1% and 137 deputies. It was the candidacy with the most votes and seats in those elections. Its advantage over PSOE was 16 deputies; compared to Vox, the difference reached 104 representatives. Therefore, PP won the elections in terms of electoral support and representation, although its seats were not enough to reach an absolute majority alone (23J results).
• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party: 31.7% and 121 deputies. It was the second most voted candidacy and the second with the most representation. It was approximately 1.4 percentage points behind PP, using percentages rounded to one decimal. The national PSOE figure includes PSC results in Catalonia; they should not be added again to the socialist total (Demócrata comparison).
• Vox: 12.4% and 33 deputies. It occupied third position. Its representation was 88 seats below PSOE and 104 below PP. These 33 deputies are the electoral result of July 2023, not a vote projection or a later estimate (23J results).

What that distribution meant

The sum of PP and Vox reached 170 deputies: 137 from PP plus 33 from Vox. That figure was six seats short of the 176 that mark the absolute majority of the Congress. Thus, being the most voted candidacy and adding the seats of both parties did not equate to having that majority (Demócrata analysis).

It is also important to distinguish the individual result of PP from a sum with UPN: in 2023 they ran separately, and UPN obtained one deputy. Therefore, attributing 138 seats exclusively to PP would be incorrect; its own result was 137 (Demócrata clarification).

Why you might find other figures

During election night, a provisional distribution of 136 deputies for PP and 122 for PSOE was disseminated. However, the final result was 137 and 121, respectively. To recall what representation each party obtained, the appropriate reference is that final distribution, recorded in the official BOE publication.

In short, the answer is: PP, 137; PSOE, 121; Vox, 33. The corresponding percentages, rounded to one decimal, were 33.1%, 31.7%, and 12.4%. These are results of elections already held, not forecasts about the next ones (electoral results).