Spanish Conservatives Pick Rajoy’s Replacement

Spain’s conservative Popular Party elected communications secretary Pablo Casado as leader at a party congress on Saturday. He replaces Mariano Rajoy who was ousted as prime minister in June, reported Politico. Casado secured 57.2% of votes at the congress compared to 42% for former deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, according to local media. In a first round of voting, which featured six candidates, Santamaria had 37% of the votes with Casado, a 37 year-old party secretary for communications in addition to his role as lawmaker under Rajoy, in second place at 34%. The leadership election was called in June after Rajoy lost a motion of no confidence in the national parliament and Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez took over as prime minister. In total, 58,300 PP members were asked to vote in the contest, with over 3,000 delegates making the final call at the party congress on Saturday.