Mariano Rajoy

The Most Excellent Mariano Rajoy
Rajoy in 2018
Prime Minister of Spain
In office 21 December 2011 – 2 June 2018
Monarchs	Juan Carlos I Felipe VI
Deputy	Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría
Preceded by	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Succeeded by	Pedro Sánchez
President of the People's Party
In office 2 October 2004 – 21 July 2018
Deputy	Ángel Acebes María Dolores de Cospedal
Preceded by	José María Aznar
Succeeded by	Pablo Casado
Leader of the Opposition
In office 17 April 2004 – 21 December 2011
Monarch	Juan Carlos I
Prime Minister	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Preceded by	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Succeeded by	Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
Secretary General of the People's Party
In office 4 September 2003 – 2 October 2004
President	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Javier Arenas
Succeeded by	Ángel Acebes
First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
In office 28 April 2000 – 4 September 2003
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Francisco Álvarez Cascos
Succeeded by	Rodrigo Rato
Spokesperson of the Government
In office 10 July 2002 – 4 September 2003
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Pío Cabanillas Gallas
Succeeded by	Eduardo Zaplana
Minister of the Presidency
In office 10 July 2002 – 4 September 2003
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Juan José Lucas
Succeeded by	Javier Arenas
In office 28 April 2000 – 28 February 2001
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Francisco Álvarez Cascos
Succeeded by	Juan José Lucas
Minister of the Interior
In office 28 February 2001 – 10 July 2002
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Jaime Mayor Oreja
Succeeded by	Ángel Acebes
Minister of Education and Culture
In office 19 January 1999 – 28 April 2000
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Esperanza Aguirre
Succeeded by	Pilar del Castillo (Education, Culture and Sport)
Minister of Public Administrations
In office 6 May 1996 – 19 January 1999
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Joan Lerma
Succeeded by	Ángel Acebes
Vice President of Galicia
In office 4 November 1986 – 26 September 1987
President	Xerardo Fernández Albor
Preceded by	Xosé Luis Barreiro
Succeeded by	Xosé Luis Barreiro
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office 20 November 1989 – 15 June 2018
Constituency	Madrid
In office 7 July 1986 – 4 December 1986
Constituency	Pontevedra
President of the Deputation of Pontevedra
In office 11 June 1983 – 10 December 1986
Preceded by	Federico Cifuentes Pérez
Succeeded by	Fernando García del Valle
Personal details
Born	Mariano Rajoy Brey (1955-03-27) 27 March 1955 (age 69) Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
Political party	Spanish National Union (1970s) People's Alliance (Before 1989) People's Party (1989–present)
Spouse	Elvira Fernández Balboa ​ ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Mariano Rajoy Sobredo Olga Brey López
Alma mater	University of Santiago de Compostela
Signature
Website	Official website

Mariano Rajoy Brey (Galician: [maɾiˈanʊ raˈʃoj],^[1] Spanish: [maˈɾjano raˈxoj]; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government.^[2][3] On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party leader.^[4][5]

He became Leader of the People's Party in 2004 and Prime Minister in 2011 following the People's Party landslide victory in that year's general election becoming the sixth President of the Spanish Government.^[6] The party lost its majority in the 2015 general election, but after that election ended in deadlock, a second election in 2016 enabled Rajoy to be reelected Prime Minister as head of a minority government. Rajoy was a Minister under the José María Aznar administration, occupying different leading roles in different Ministries between 1996 and 2003, and he also was the Deputy Prime Minister between 2000 and 2003. He was the Leader of the Opposition between 2004 and 2011 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government.

Rajoy's first term was heavily marked by the Spanish financial crisis and oversaw a major restructuring of the Spanish financial system as well as a major labour reform. The financial crisis peaked with a bailout of the Spanish banking system in June 2012. Unemployment in Spain peaked at 27% in 2012, which led to an initial drop of the People's Party in the polls, which was aggravated by the revelations of a series of corruption cases that seriously damaged the party's reputation. This, among other factors, led to a profound shift in the Spanish party system, with the rise of new political parties from the left and the right: Podemos and Citizens.

The 2015 general election led to a parliamentary configuration that made the formation of a government very difficult; as a result, Spain was without a government for over six months and new elections were held in June 2016. Rajoy was finally appointed Prime Minister with the support of the Citizens party and the abstention of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. Rajoy's second term was marked by economic recovery and a drop in unemployment and the challenge of stagnating salaries. Rajoy also oversaw the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis marked by the Catalan independence referendum of 2017 and the Catalan unilateral declaration of independence on 27 October 2017 that led to the imposition of direct rule in Catalonia.

At 14 years and 146 days, Rajoy was the longest-serving Spanish politician in the Government of Spain since the Spanish transition to democracy, having held ministerial offices continuously from 1996 to 2004 and from 2011 to 2018.^[7][8]