Feijóo lands in Santander to look for the PP’s third MP for Cantabria in the elections on 29N

For Alberto Núñez Feijóo to be invested after the November 29 elections, he would need to be proposed as a candidate and obtain the confidence of the Congress: an absolute majority in the first vote or a simple majority in a second vote. Winning the elections does not replace this procedure, and the Senate does not vote on the investiture.

1. Constitution of the new Congress

The first step would be to hold the constitutive session, on the day and time established by the royal decree calling the election. Initially, it would be presided over by the oldest elected deputy present, assisted by the two youngest.

The deputies would elect the Board of the Congress, including its Presidency. Then they would take an oath or promise to uphold the Constitution and the Chamber would be declared constituted. Its Presidency would communicate this to the King, the Senate, and the Government. These are the steps of articles 1 to 4 of the Congress Regulations.

2. King's consultations and candidate proposal

The King would hold consultations with representatives designated by the political groups with parliamentary representation and propose a candidate through the Presidency of the Congress, according to article 99 of the Constitution. For Feijóo to face the investiture, that proposal would have to fall on him.

Upon receiving the proposal, the Presidency of the Congress would convene the Plenary, as provided in article 170 of the Regulations. The election date alone does not determine when that debate would be held.

3. Presentation of the program and debate

The session would begin with the reading of the proposal. Feijóo would present without time limit the political program of the Government he intended to form and request the confidence of the Chamber.

After a break, each group requesting it would have thirty minutes. The candidate could respond as many times as he requested the floor; the representatives of the groups would have ten-minute replies, depending on whether he answered individually or jointly. These rules are set out in article 171.

4. First and second vote

The Presidency would set the time of the vote. This would be public by roll call: each deputy would respond "yes," "no," or "abstention," according to articles 85 and 86.

• First vote: Feijóo would need an absolute majority of the members of Congress, that is, more than half of its members.
• Second vote: if he did not reach it, it would be repeated forty-eight hours later. A simple majority would suffice: more favorable votes than opposing ones. Abstentions would not be added to either group.

Before the second vote, Feijóo could speak for ten minutes and each group for five. Therefore, abstentions could facilitate his election on this second opportunity, but would not lower the requirement of the first.

5. If he does not obtain confidence

New candidate proposals would be processed by the same procedure. Feijóo's failure would not automatically trigger new elections.

If two months pass from the first investiture vote without any candidate obtaining confidence, both Chambers would be dissolved and elections called. The period begins with that vote, not with November 29 or the constitution of Congress; this is established in article 172.

6. Appointment and institutional continuity

If he obtained confidence, the Presidency of the Congress would communicate the result to the King for his appointment. Then the swearing-in would take place, outside the parliamentary debate.

The Permanent Deputation cannot invest the president. During a dissolution it maintains limited functions, including those related to royal decree-laws and exceptional states; it does not replace the new Plenary in this decision.

The President of Cantabria exercises three central functions: represents the autonomous community, holds the ordinary representation of the State in Cantabria, and directs the autonomous Government. The Statute also grants her powers over appointments, promulgation of laws, elections, and relations with the Parliament, subject to limits and controls.

These powers are set out in Organic Law 8/1981, especially in articles 10, 15, 17, 18, 22, and 23, with the wording introduced by the 1998 reform.

Representation and Government direction

• Institutional representation — article 17.1. She holds "the highest representation of the Autonomous Community and the ordinary representation of the State in Cantabria." These are two institutional positions that the Statute combines in the Presidency.
• Executive direction — article 17.2. She presides over, directs, and coordinates the Government's actions. It is important to distinguish this presidential function from the Government's powers as a collegiate body: according to article 18.1, it is the Government's responsibility to direct political action, exercise executive function, and approve regulations.
• Appointments and dismissals — articles 17.2 and 18.3. She appoints and removes Government members. She must inform the Parliament of these appointments and dismissals.
• Temporary delegation — article 18.4. She can delegate executive and representation functions to the vice presidency or, failing that, to a person holding a ministry.

Laws, elections, and parliamentary dissolution

• Promulgation of laws — article 15.2. She promulgates, in the name of the king, the laws of Cantabria. The Statute provides for their publication in the Official Bulletin of Cantabria and in the Official State Gazette. Promulgation does not mean approval: approval corresponds to the Parliament.
• Electoral call — article 10.3. She calls autonomous elections under electoral legislation, with the ordinary provision of the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The outgoing Presidency also calls the elected Parliament within twenty-five days after the elections.
• Early dissolution — article 23. She can agree to it, after Government deliberation and under her exclusive responsibility. She must do so by decree that simultaneously calls elections. The resulting Parliament only completes the remaining time of the original legislature.

Dissolution has limits: it cannot be agreed during the first session period, when less than one year remains in the legislature, while a motion of censure is pending, before one year has passed since the last dissolution by this procedure, nor when a state electoral process is called.

Confidence and responsibility before Parliament

Article 22.2 allows the President to raise a question of confidence: to ask Parliament to confirm its support for the program or a general policy statement. It requires prior Government deliberation and is passed by simple majority, that is, more favorable votes than opposing ones. It cannot be raised while a motion of censure is pending.

If she loses that confidence, she must resign. She must also do so if a motion of censure succeeds, which requires an absolute majority and includes an alternative candidacy. Article 19 establishes that the outgoing Government continues in office until the new one takes office.

Finally, article 18.5 refers to an autonomous law for the detailed regulation of the powers and personal status of Government members. Therefore, the functions developed by that law must be distinguished from those directly attributed to the Presidency by the Statute.

The last general elections held before July 23, 2023 were on November 10, 2019. In Cantabria, the Popular Party was the most voted candidacy for Congress: it obtained 84,032 votes, 25.86%, and two deputies. Additionally, it secured three of the four senators elected in the community.

Result in the Congress of Deputies

The PP's result in the Cantabria constituency was as follows, according to the results published by RTVE:

• Votes: 84,032.
• Percentage: 25.86%.
• Deputies: two of the five corresponding to Cantabria.
• Position: first candidacy by number of votes in the community.

The two deputies elected by the Popular candidacy were Diego Movellán Lombilla and Elena Castillo López. The proclamation of elected officials can be consulted in the official BOE publication.

Therefore, the data that most directly answers the question is that the PP won those elections in Cantabria in number of votes to Congress and obtained two seats. It is important to distinguish both things: being the most voted candidacy did not mean obtaining the majority of the five deputies of the constituency.

Its two seats represented 40% of the deputies elected by Cantabria, while its vote percentage was 25.86%. These are different magnitudes: one expresses the proportion of representation obtained and the other, the electoral support of the candidacy. It is not advisable to use one as if it were equivalent to the other.

Result in the Senate

In the Senate election, the PP obtained three of the four seats corresponding to Cantabria. The fourth went to the PSOE. The three elected Popular candidates and their individual results were as follows, according to RTVE electoral information:

• Javier Puente Redondo: 102,397 votes, equivalent to 32.04%.
• Amaya Landín Díaz de Corcuera: 97,341 votes, 30.46%.
• Félix de las Cuevas Cortés: 86,884 votes, 27.18%.

Javier Puente was, among the three elected Popular candidates, the one who received the most votes. He was followed by Amaya Landín and Félix de las Cuevas. All three obtained representation, so the party's balance was two deputies and three senators elected by Cantabria in that call.

How to interpret the figures

The results of both chambers must be read separately. In Congress, a joint result of the candidacy is offered: that is why it can be spoken of as the PP's 84,032 votes and its 25.86%. In the Senate, however, the votes and percentages correspond to each candidate.

Each voter could vote for up to three candidates for the Senate. Therefore, the votes of the three Popular senators should not be added to present them as a total of party voters: the same person could have supported more than one. Their percentages should also not be added nor directly compared with the percentage of the list to Congress.

The temporal reference is, therefore, November 2019, not the April call of the same year. To consult the general framework of that election, the Congress results and the breakdowns published by El País and ABC are also available.