Pedro Sánchez

He was 23rd on the proportional representation list, but missed out as the PSOE won only 21 seats.

Sánchez joined the council a year later by co-option when two of the PSOE councillors resigned.

He quickly rose to become a close confidante of Trinidad Jiménez, who sought the leadership of the council.

Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018.

Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón was born in 1972 in Madrid to well-off parents, Pedro Sánchez Fernández and Magdalena Pérez-Castejón.

His father was a public administrator who spent most of his career at the Ministry of Culture's Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música.

He later became the owner of an industrial packing company.

His mother also worked as a civil servant, in the social security system, and later studied to become a lawyer, ultimately graduating alongside her son at the same university.

Raised in the Tetuán district, he went on to study at the Colegio Santa Cristina.

According to Sánchez himself, he frequented breakdancing circles in AZCA when he was a teenager.

He moved from the Colegio Santa Cristina to the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu, a public high school where he played basketball in the Estudiantes youth system, with links to the high school, reaching the U-21 team.

In 1993, Sánchez first joined the PSOE, following the victory of Felipe González in that year's general election.

He earned a licentiate degree from the Real Colegio Universitario María Cristina, attached to the Complutense University of Madrid, in 1995.

Following his graduation, he moved to New York City to work for a global consulting firm.

In 1998, Sánchez moved to Brussels to work for the PSOE's delegation to the European Parliament, including as an assistant to the MEP Bárbara Dührkop.

He also spent time working in the staff of the United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carlos Westendorp.

Combining studies with his employment, he earned a second degree, in Politics and Economics, in 1998, graduating from the Université libre de Bruxelles.

He subsequently enrolled at the UCJC to study a Doctorate in Economics, earning his PHD 18 months later by writing a dissertation entitled Innovaciones de la diplomacia económica española: Análisis del sector público (2000–2012) (English translation: Innovations of Spanish Economic Diplomacy: Analysis of the Public Sector (2000–2012)), supervised by María Isabel Cepeda González.

He also earned a degree in business leadership from IESE Business School in the University of Navarra, a private university and apostolate of the Opus Dei, and a diploma in Advanced Studies in EU Monetary Integration from the Instituto Ortega y Gasset in 2002.

In 2003, Sánchez stood for Madrid City Council as a PSOE candidate, under the local leadership of Trinidad Jiménez.

Sánchez began his political career in 2004 as a city councillor in Madrid, before being elected to the Congress of Deputies in 2009.

In 2005, he was seconded to help lead the PSdG (PSOE's sister party in Galicia) campaign in the Galician regional election, which saw the PSdG win enough seats to allow their leader, Emilio Pérez Touriño, to become President of Galicia.

As well as his career as a Madrid City Councillor, Sánchez also worked as a university lecturer at the Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC) in 2008, lecturing on Economic Structure and History of Economic Thought.

Via co-option, Sánchez was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies for Madrid to replace the retiring Pedro Solbes, who has served as Finance Minister under PSOE Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

However his first period in the Congress would be short, as at the 2011 general election, the PSOE suffered a large defeat and only elected 10 deputies for Madrid; with Sánchez 11th on the proportional list, he lost his seat in the Congress.

In 2012, Sánchez received his Doctorate in Economics from Camilo José Cela University, where he lectured in economics.

In January 2013, Sánchez returned to Congress representing Madrid, replacing Cristina Narbona, who resigned to accept appointment at the Nuclear Safety Council.

In December 2013, after publishing a book outlining a new policy direction, with numerous leading PSOE figures such as Elena Valenciano, Trinidad Jiménez, Miguel Sebastián, and José Blanco López attending the launch, his began to be considered a future candidate for the PSOE leadership.

In 2014, he was elected Secretary-General of the PSOE, becoming Leader of the Opposition.

After the resignation of PSOE leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, following poor results at the 2014 European Parliament election, Sánchez launched his campaign to succeed him on 12 June 2014.

He led the party through the inconclusive 2015 and 2016 general elections, but resigned as Secretary-General shortly after the latter, following public disagreements with the party's executive.

He was subsequently re-elected in a leadership election eight months later, defeating internal rivals Susana Díaz and Patxi López.

He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having previously held that office from 2014 to 2016, and was elected President of the Socialist International in November 2022.

On 1 June 2018, the PSOE called a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, successfully passing the motion after winning the support of Unidas Podemos, as well as various regionalist and nationalist parties.

Sánchez was subsequently appointed prime minister by King Felipe VI the following day.

In 2018, Sánchez was accused by the ABC newspaper of plagiarism in his doctorate.

Refuting the allegations, Sánchez published his full thesis online.

He went on to lead the PSOE to gain 38 seats in the April 2019 general election, the PSOE's first national victory since 2008, although they fell short of a majority.

After talks to form a government failed, Sánchez again won the most votes at the November 2019 general election, forming a minority coalition government with Unidas Podemos, the first national coalition government since the country's return to democracy.

After the PSOE suffered significant losses in regional elections in May 2023, Sánchez called a snap general election, which saw the PSOE hold all of its seats; despite finishing second behind the People's Party, Sánchez was able to again form a coalition government, and was appointed to a third term as Prime Minister on 17 November 2023.