Mariano Rajoy must go

Spaniards want a new prime minister. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from the latest opinion poll carried out by Metroscopia for the Spanish daily El Pais, which revealed that 85 per cent of the electorate think someone else should have a go at leading the conservative Popular Party. Long-time supporters of the PP are deserting it too, with 62 per cent of respondents who have previously voted for the party saying Mariano Rajoy should go. Clearly the days when the Conservatives enjoyed a virtually-unchallenged hegemony in the national parliament are gone. Benefiting from Rajoy’s demise is the country’s new centre-right, in the form of Albert Rivera’s party Ciudadanos (‘Citizens’).

Rajoy’s slump in popularity is partly a result of his handling of the Catalan crisis, with his heavy-handed response to the independence referendum backfiring spectacularly. But while it earned him widespread criticism, it’s not for his handling of Catalonia that Rajoy should step down as prime minister.