The 12th Federal Assembly of United Left was held in Madrid from 26 March to 27 March 2021, to renovate the governing bodies of the United Left (IU) and establish the party's main lines of action and strategy for the next leadership term. The federal assembly was initially scheduled for July 2020, but it was postponed as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

The congress was held following the November 2019 Spanish general election when the alliance managed to enter the government for the first time since the Second Republic. The incumbent general coordinator and Minister of Consumer Affairs Alberto Garzón was reelected for a second term with 76.3% of the vote, thus defeating the candidacy of José Antonio García Rubio; who was supported by former leading figures of IU against the alliance with Podemos and got 20.8% of the vote.

The approved political document called for a bigger integration of IU within the Unidas Podemos alliance, eventually leading to an organizational convergence with Podemos. However, these plans were halted by the establishment of the Sumar platform led by Yolanda Díaz, former member of IU, ahead of the 2023 Spanish general election.

Candidates Candidate Age Notable positions Announced Eliminated Campaign Elected Candidate elected as general coordinator. Alberto Garzón Minister of Consumer Affairs (since 2020)General Coordinator of United Left (since 2016)Deputy in the Cortes Generales for Málaga and Madrid (since 2011) 18 February 2021 Elected Proclaimed Candidates who met the endorsement requirement and were officially proclaimed to contest the primary election. José AntonioGarcía Rubio 72 Federal Secretary of Economy and Employment of IU (2012–2020) 24 October 2020 22 March 2021

Endorsements

Total Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of at least 2% of the total party members (≈361 endorsements).

+Summary of candidate endorsement results Candidate Endorsements Count Alberto Garzón ≈2,208 12.24 76.19 José Antonio García Rubio ≈690 3.82 23.81 Total 2,898 Valid endorsements 2,898 16.07 Not endorsing 15,138 83.93 Total members 18,036 Sources

Public endorsements

Alberto Garzón

José Antonio García Rubio

Results + Summary of the 15–27 March 2021 IU assembly results Candidate Primary Assembly Votes % Votes % Alberto Garzón 5,694 76.26 Unopposed José Antonio García Rubio 1,553 20.80 colspan="2" Blank ballots 220 2.94 colspan="2" Total 7,467 colspan="2" Valid votes 7,467 100.00 rowspan="4" colspan="2" Invalid votes 0 0.00 Votes cast / turnout 7,467 41.40 Abstentions 10,569 58.60 Registered voters 18,036 560 Sources

By region Region Electorate Turnout AlbertoGarzón José AntonioGarcía Rubio Votes % Votes % Andalusia 5,404 46.21 2,162 86.58 290 11.61 Aragon 779 24.65 167 86.98 22 11.46 Asturias 1,910 48.22 432 46.91 388 42.13 Balearic Islands 210 17.14 27 75.00 7 19.44 Basque Country 320 50.94 146 89.57 15 9.20 Canary Islands 254 31.89 46 56.79 34 41.98 Cantabria 153 39.22 47 78.33 13 21.67 Castile and León 1,034 47.49 313 63.75 171 34.83 Castilla–La Mancha 1,016 40.55 310 75.24 95 23.06 Catalonia 763 34.60 237 89.77 26 9.85 Ceuta 8 25.00 2 100.00 0 0.00 Extremadura 478 33.68 118 73.29 34 21.12 Galicia 591 26.23 113 72.90 30 19.35 La Rioja 114 63.16 42 58.33 30 41.67 Madrid 1,834 38.99 643 89.93 55 7.69 Melilla 1 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 Murcia 599 31.05 155 83.33 25 13.44 Navarre 288 41.32 81 68.07 36 30.25 Valencian Community 2,226 40.84 629 69.20 275 30.25 Exterior 54 57.41 24 77.42 7 22.58 Total 18,036 41.40 5,694 76.26 1,553 20.80

References