# United Left (Spain)

United Left (Spanish: Izquierda Unida, IU) is a federative political movement in Spain that was first organized as a coalition in 1986, bringing together several left-wing political organizations, grouped primarily around the Communist Party of Spain.
IU was founded as an electoral coalition of seven parties, but the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) is the only remaining integrated member of the IU at the national level. Despite that, IU brings together other regional parties, political organizations, and independents. It currently takes the form of a permanent federation of parties.
IU took part in the Unidas Podemos coalition and the corresponding parliamentary group in the Congreso de los Diputados between 2016 and 2023. Since January 2020, it participated for the first time in a national coalition government, with one minister. For the 2023 general election, IU took part in the Sumar platform.

## History

Following the electoral failure of the PCE in the 1982 general election (going from 10% to 4% of the votes), PCE leaders believed that the PCE alone could no longer effectively challenge the electoral hegemony of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) on the left. With this premise, the PCE began developing closer relations with other left-wing groups, with the vision of forming a broad left coalition. IU slowly improved its results, reaching 9% in 1989 (1,800,000 votes) and nearly 11% in 1996 (2,600,000 votes). The founding organizations were: Communist Party of Spain, Progressive Federation, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain, PASOC, Carlist Party, Humanist Party, Unitarian Candidacy of Workers, and Republican Left.
In contrast to the PCE prior to the formation of IU, which pursued a more moderate political course, the new IU adopted a more radical strategy and ideology of confrontation against the PSOE. IU generally opposed cooperating with the PSOE, and identified it as a "right-wing party", no different from the People's Party (PP).
After achieving poor results in the 1999 local and European elections, IU decided to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards the PSOE, and agreed to sign an electoral pact with the PSOE for the upcoming general election in 2000. They also adopted a universal policy in favor of cooperating with the PSOE at the local level.
IU currently has around 18,000 members, a decrease from 70,000 in 2012.

## Organization
### Composition

| Party | Party | Notes |
| | Communist Party of Spain (PCE) | |
| | Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) | Not a political party. Joined in 1998 |
| | Republican Left (IR) | Left in 2002, rejoined in 2011 |
| | Unitarian Candidacy of Workers (CUT) | Left in 2015, rejoined in 2018 |
| Former members |||
| | Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) | Joined in October 2015, expelled in February 2020 due to its stances on transgender rights. |
| | Humanist Party (PH) | April–July 1986 |
| | Carlist Party (PC) | Expelled in 1987 |
| | Progressive Federation (FP) | Left in December 1987, due to being dissolved. |
| | Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) | Left in 1988 |
| | Socialist Action Party (PASOC) | Dissolved in 2001. |
| | Red Current (CR) | Joined in 2002, left in 2004 |
| | Anti-capitalists (IA) | Joined in 1995, left in 2008 |
| | Coalition for Melilla (CpM) | Joined in 2008, left in 2013 |
| | Open Left (IzAb) | Joined in 2012, dissolved in 2018. |

### Federal coordinators

| Name | Period |
| Gerardo Iglesias | 1986 |
| Julio Anguita | 1986–1999 |
| Francisco Frutos | 1999–2001 |
| Gaspar Llamazares | 2001–2008 |
| Cayo Lara | 2008–2016 |
| Alberto Garzón | 2016–2023 |
| Antonio Maíllo | 2024–present |

### Territorial federations

* Andalusia: Izquierda Unida Los Verdes - Convocatoría por Andalucía (United Left/The Greens - Assembly for Andalusia)
* Aragon: Izquierda Unida Aragón (United Left of Aragon)
* Asturias: Izquierda Xunida de Asturies (United Left of Asturias)
* Balearic Islands: Esquerra Unida de les Illes Balears (United Left of the Balearic Islands)
* Canary Islands: Izquierda Unida Canaria (Canarian United Left)
* Cantabria: Izquierda Unida de Cantabria (Cantabrian United Left)
* Castilla-La Mancha: Izquierda Unida de Castilla-La Mancha (United Left of Castilla-La Mancha)
* Catalonia: Esquerra Unida Catalunya (United Left Catalonia, Founded in July 2019; suspended in June 2019 Esquerra Unida i Alternativa)
* Castilla y León: Izquierda Unida de Castilla y León (United Left of Castile and León)
* Ceuta: Izquierda Unida de Ceuta (United Left of Ceuta)
* Euskadi: Izquierda Unida - Los Verdes: Ezker Anitza (United Left - The Greens: Plural Left)
* Extremadura: Izquierda Unida Extremadura (United Left Extremadura)
* Galicia: Esquerda Unida (United Left of Galicia)
* La Rioja: Izquierda Unida La Rioja (United Left-La Rioja)
* Madrid: Izquierda Unida-Madrid (United Left-Madrid). Izquierda Unida de la Comunidad de Madrid (United Left of the Community of Madrid) was expelled in 2015. The new federation, IU-M, was created in 2016.
* Melilla: Izquierda Unida - Federación de Melilla (United Left - Melilla Federation)
* Murcia: Izquierda Unida-Verdes de la Región de Murcia (United Left - Greens of the Region of Murcia)
* Navarra: Izquierda Unida de Navarra - Nafarroako Ezker Batua (United Left of Navarra)
* Valencian Community: Esquerra Unida del País Valencià (United Left of the Valencian Country)

## Electoral performance
### Cortes Generales

Cortes Generales :
| Election | Leading candidate | Congress | Congress | Congress | Congress | Congress | Senate | Senate | Gov. |
| Election | Leading candidate | Votes | % | # | Seats | +/– | Seats | +/– | Gov. |
| 1986 | Gerardo Iglesias | 935,504 | 4.6 | 5th | 7 / 350 | 3 | 0 / 208 | 0 | Opposition |
| 1989 | Julio Anguita | 1,858,588 | 9.1 | 3rd | 17 / 350 | 10 | 1 / 208 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1993 | Julio Anguita | 2,253,722 | 9.6 | 3rd | 18 / 350 | 1 | 0 / 208 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1996 | Julio Anguita | 2,639,774 | 10.5 | 3rd | 21 / 350 | 3 | 0 / 208 | 0 | Opposition |
| 2000 | Francisco Frutos | 1,263,043 | 5.4 | 4th | 8 / 350 | 13 | 0 / 208 | 0 | Opposition |
| 2004 | Gaspar Llamazares | 1,284,081 | 5.0 | 6th | 5 / 350 | 3 | 1 / 208 | 1 | Confidence and supply |
| 2008 | Gaspar Llamazares | 969,946 | 3.8 | 6th | 2 / 350 | 3 | 1 / 208 | 0 | Opposition |
| 2011 | Cayo Lara | with Plural Left | with Plural Left | with Plural Left | 7 / 350 | 5 | 0 / 208 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2015 | Cayo Lara | with Popular Unity | with Popular Unity | with Popular Unity | 2 / 350 | 5 | 0 / 208 | 0 | New election |
| 2016 | Alberto Garzón | with Unidos Podemos | with Unidos Podemos | with Unidos Podemos | 8 / 350 | 6 | 2 / 208 | 2 | Opposition (2016–18) |
| 2016 | Alberto Garzón | with Unidos Podemos | with Unidos Podemos | with Unidos Podemos | 8 / 350 | 6 | 2 / 208 | 2 | Confidence and supply (2018–19) |
| Apr-2019 | Alberto Garzón | with Unidas Podemos | with Unidas Podemos | with Unidas Podemos | 5 / 350 | 3 | 0 / 208 | 2 | New election |
| Nov-2019 | Alberto Garzón | with Unidas Podemos | with Unidas Podemos | with Unidas Podemos | 5 / 350 | 0 | 0 / 208 | 0 | Coalition (PSOE–UP) |
| 2023 | Alberto Garzón | with Sumar | with Sumar | with Sumar | 5 / 350 | 0 | 0 / 208 | 0 | Coalition (PSOE–Sumar) |

### European Parliament

European Parliament :
| Election | Leading candidate | Votes | % | # | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
| 1987 | Fernando Pérez Royo | 1,011,830 | 5.3 | 4th | 3 / 60 | — | COM |
| 1989 | Fernando Pérez Royo | 961,742 | 6.1 | 4th | 4 / 60 | 1 | COM (EUL) |
| 1994 | Alonso Puerta | 2,497,671 | 13.4 | 3rd | 9 / 64 | 5 | EUL |
| 1999 | Alonso Puerta | 1,221,566 | 5.8 | 3rd | 4 / 64 | 5 | GUE/NGL |
| 2004 | Willy Meyer | 643,136 | 4.1 | 4th | 2 / 54 | 2 | GUE/NGL |
| 2009 | Willy Meyer | with The Left | with The Left | with The Left | 2 / 54 | 0 | GUE/NGL |
| 2014 | Willy Meyer | with Plural Left | with Plural Left | with Plural Left | 4 / 54 | 2 | GUE/NGL |
| 2019 | Sira Rego | with UPCE | with UPCE | with UPCE | 2 / 54 | 2 | GUE/NGL |
| 2024 | Manu Pineda | with Sumar | with Sumar | with Sumar | 0 / 61 | 2 | — |