Europe is seeing an uprising in conservative victories in political elections. The most recent example was the announcement today in Portugal that the Socialist Party, led by Jose Socrates, was defeated by the Social Democrats who are expected to form a leadership structure with conservatives.
Portugal is not the only country with such happenings. Just a few weeks ago, conservatives made huge gains in local and regional elections in Spain, beating out socialists. And last year, the Conservative party in Great Britain won a plurality of seats.
Economic issues facing Europe, including Portugal, Spain and Great Britain were major factors in the gains. When in doubt economically, voters in both Europe and the United States tend to correctly prefer conservative economic policies.
In Portugal, according to BBC news:
Socialist leader Jose Socrates said he accepted responsibility for the defeat and resigned as head of his party.
The victorious centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) led by Pedro Passos Coelho are expected to form a majority with the conservative CDS.
The new government must implement a demanding austerity programme as a condition for an EU bail-out.
Exit polls gave the PSD between 37% and 42.5% of the vote, ahead of the Socialists who scored between 24.4% and 30%.
“These are clear results which the Socialist Party wants to recognise. All the results point to a win for the PSD and a defeat for the Socialists,” Economy Minister Jose Vieira da Silva said.
Announcing his resignation to party supporters in Lisbon, Mr Socrates said: “This defeat is entirely mine and I want to assume full responsibility for it.
“I feel it is necessary to open a new political cycle that is able to prepare a consistent alternative. I want to give the Socialist Party the space to discuss its future and select a new leadership.”
All the main parties are backing the 78bn euro ($116bn; £70bn) bail-out, which requires tough austerity measures amid a faltering economy and a debt crisis.
On Spain, here is CNN’s analysis:
Spain’s opposition conservatives were heading to victory Sunday over the ruling Socialists in local and regional elections, with 84% of the vote counted, according to official results. The opposition Popular Party had 37% of the vote to the Socialists’ 27%.
The Socialists lost two major posts to conservatives: mayor of Seville and presidency of the Castilla La Mancha region — where the famed Don Quijote novel was set. This will be the first time in 30 years Socialists will not be at the helm of the La Mancha region.
Exit polls indicated the Socialists could also lose the prized Barcelona mayor’s post after 32 years to the moderate Catalan nationalist party, Convergence and Union.
Polls predict the ruling Socialist Party will suffer deep losses to the conservatives in voting for all 8,000 Spanish city and town mayors and for presidents of 13 out of the 17 regional governments. The outcome is viewed as a bellwether for national elections, due no later than March 2012.
The elections came after a campaign overshadowed by week-long protests in Madrid and other cities over the nation’s deep economic crisis.
Conservatives see political gains in Europe is a post from: Orange Punch
