Valencia (Spanish Congress Electoral District) - 2008 Election

2008 Election

The current Deputy Prime Minister and former Madrid deputy María Teresa Fernández de la Vega headed the PSOE list at the 2008 election. This was interpreted as an attempt to at least gain the United Left seat and possibly advance to nine seats. However the PSOE vote share fell. Controversy over the repeal of a PP plan to divert the River Ebro had been an important issue in the campaign. The National Hydrological Plan, approved by the former PP government in 2001, had planned to divert the Ebro to the Communities of Valencia and Murcia.

For the PP, former President of the Valencian community, Eduardo Zaplana, moved to Madrid district while Vicente Martinez Pujalte, who became the first deputy in the 2004-08 congress to be expelled from the chamber by the speaker, stood instead in Murcia. Both were reelected. After the Mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá Nolla turned down an offer to head the PP list, Esteban Gonzalez Pons was selected as head of the list.

Isaura Navarro was deselected by the regional federation of United Left (IU) on 18 November 2007 being replaced by Antonio Montalbán. The Federal Executive Praesidium of IU annulled this result one month later, citing irregularities in membership registration. Following the controversy, Navarro resigned from IU and stood unsuccessfully as part of a multi-party list which included Bloc Nacionalista Valencia. However neither Montalbán nor Navarro were successful with the PP gaining the final seat. Valencian Union, which had previously won seats in the district, decided not to contest the 2008 election.

In the wake of the 2008 election result, the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, highlighted Valencia as one of five areas where the PSOE needed to improve its results.