The elections in Andalucia are over with the PSOE winning the most seats, although not enough for an absolute majority.
This means pacts will have to be made. The pact between the PSOE and IU in the last legislature proved highly unpopular and this was reflected in the number of seats won by IU this time around, just five.
Turnout was 63.94%, which speaks volumes, and suggests there is much to be said for making voting compulsory, as it is in some other countries. One can, in many ways, understand the reasons for apathy and abstention: two major parties hit by scandal after scandal, a feeling that nothing will change, a self-serving political class which seemingly views the the electorate as being at the bottom of the food chain. Nothing will change, of course, unless everyone votes.
However, it is the system in place and is unlikely to change, so its back to ‘business as usual’.
The PSOE won 47 seats with 35.43% of the votes cast – or to put it another way, with the support of 22.65% of the electorate.
The PP won 33 seats, down by 17 from the previous election in 2012.
Podemos won 15 seats contesting their first election.
Ciudadanos won 9 seats.
IULV-CA won 5 seats, down by 7 from the previous election.
At provincial level, the PSOE were the victorious party in all but one province, that being Almeria.
Although the new political party Podemos, and to a lesser extent Ciudadanos, have made an impact, the election did not result in the demise of the bipartisan hegemony many were either expecting or hoping to see.