Felipe González
Felipe González | |
|---|---|
González in 1991 | |
| Prime Minister of Spain | |
| In office 2 December 1982 – 5 May 1996 | |
| Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo |
| Succeeded by | José María Aznar |
| Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | |
| In office 28 September 1979 – 21 June 1997 | |
| President | Ramón Rubial |
| Deputy | Alfonso Guerra |
| Preceded by | Caretaker committee |
| Succeeded by | Joaquín Almunia |
| In office 13 October 1974 – 20 May 1979 | |
| President | Ramón Rubial (1976–1979) |
| Preceded by | Rodolfo Llopis |
| Succeeded by | Caretaker committee |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 5 May 1996 – 21 June 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | José María Aznar |
| Preceded by | José María Aznar |
| Succeeded by | Joaquín Almunia |
| Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
| In office 29 March 2000 – 2 April 2004 | |
| Constituency | Seville |
| In office 2 July 1977 – 5 April 2000 | |
| Constituency | Madrid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Felipe González Márquez 5 March 1942 Seville, Andalusia, Spain |
| Political party | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Seville |
| Signature | |
Felipe González Márquez (Spanish pronunciation: [feˈlipe ɣonˈθaleθ ˈmaɾkeθ]; born 5 March 1942) is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically-elected Prime Minister of Spain.
González joined the PSOE in 1964 when it was banned under the Francoist regime. He obtained a law degree from the University of Seville in 1965. In 1974, the PSOE elected González as its Secretary-General after a split in its 26th Congress. He led the party through the Spanish transition to democracy, carrying it to a strong second-place finish in the 1977 general election, making the PSOE the main opposition to the ruling Union of the Democratic Centre, a position it maintained in 1979.
After the PSOE victory in the 1982 general election, González formed his first majority government, backed by 202 out of the 350 deputies at the Congress of Deputies, and led the government of Spain for thirteen and a half years after three additional victories in the 1986, 1989 and 1993 general elections. In 1996, González lost the election to José María Aznar and the People's Party and was elected to the Congress of Deputies for the last time in the 2000 general election, from Seville.