Patxi López has been appointed spokesperson for the PSOE in Congress to replace Héctor Gómez at a time of profound reform in the party to face the final stretch of Pedro Sánchez ‘s term after the resignations of Dolores Delgado and Adriana Lastra. The socialist politician has gone down in history for being the first socialist and non-nationalist lehendakari , in addition to having been the president of the Congress of Deputies.
Until now, López held the position of deputy for Bizkaia and secretary of Federal Policy of the PSOE. After the announcement of his new position, Patxi López went to Twitter to express to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, his gratitude for his trust. “It is an honor and an exciting challenge to assume the spokesperson for the PSOE in Congress. From the dialogue I will work to reach agreements that protect the middle and working class of this country,” said the Basque politician.
Who is Patxi Lopez?
Francisco Javier López Álvarez was born in Portugalete (Bizkaia) on October 4, 1959. His relationship with socialism runs in his genes. His father, Eduardo López Albizu, “Lalo”, was a historical figure of Basque socialism and president of the PSE-EE (PSOE) of Vizcaya. Patxi joined the Socialist Youth when he was only 16 years old and two years later he joined the PSOE of Euskadi.
From 2022he held the position of General Secretary of the Euskadi Socialist Youth. In 1988 he was appointed deputy for Bizkaia in the Congress of Deputies, becoming one of the youngest deputies in the legislature. Years later, López assumed the Organization Secretariat of the Euskadi Executive Commission, a position from which he resigned to take responsibility for the Institutional Secretariat of the Biscayan Socialists and which he held until 1997. He became Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Euskadi-Euskadiko Ezkerra in 2022 and is a member of the Federal Committee of the PSOE and a deputy in the Basque Parliament since 1991, where he was president of the Basque Socialist-Euskal Sozialistak Parliamentary Group until 2022.
But without a doubt, Patxi López has gone down in the history of Basque politics for being the first socialist lehendakari thanks to the support of the PP and UPyD. In his investiture speech in May 2022, he asked for the confidence of the Basque deputies to create a government that “unite society” and “leave division behind”, highlighting as a priority ending ETA terrorism. He was at the head of the Basque Government until 2022, when he was replaced by Íñigo Urkullu when the PNV won the regional elections.
Patxi López kept his seat in the Basque Parliament. He was re-elected Secretary General of the PSE-EE in 2022 during the VII Congress of the party with 88% of the votes. After the poor results obtained by his party in the European elections of May 2022, he announced that he would leave the general secretariat after the holding of an extraordinary congress. In 2022 he was replaced by Idoia Mendia, also renouncing his deputy act.
Thanks to the agreement between the PSOE and Ciudadanos after the 2022 general elections, López was proposed to occupy the presidency of the Congress of Deputies and until the dissolution of the chambers in 2016, being replaced by Ana Pastor Julián. In January 2022, he announced his decision to run for the PSOE General Secretariat primaries: he faced Susana Díaz, president of the Junta de Andalucía, Pedro Sánchez, finishing third.
