Alberto Núñez Feijóo completes four years at the head of the Popular Party after having assumed the leadership in April 2022, after 14 years as president of the Xunta de Galicia, with the objective of rebuilding the party from moderate positions and occupying the “political center”. Four years later, his trajectory has been marked by a progressive hardening of discourse and a strategy aimed at disputing Vox's electorate.
Feijóo reached the presidency of the PP after the internal crisis that caused the departure of Pablo Casado. In his first interventions, he defended a project “centered, reformist and of majorities,” with the aim of attracting moderate voters and recovering political space.
With the passage of time, the popular leader's discourse has evolved. On issues such as immigration, equality or democratic memory, he has adopted tougher positions and messages that partly coincide with the proposals of Vox.
From the PP's circle they defend that this strategy responds to the need to “concentrate the center-right vote” and avoid electoral fragmentation. During these four years, Feijóo has faced different electoral processes with unequal results. The PP has reinforced its territorial power, with autonomous and municipal governments, and maintains key enclaves like Andalusia, where it governs with an absolute majority under the leadership of Juanma Moreno.
However, access to the central Government still has not materialized. The competition with Vox has conditioned the PP's strategy, forcing its leadership to balance the discourse between initial moderation and subsequent hardening.
From the PSOE they criticize this turn and maintain that Feijóo has assumed postulates of the radical right. Socialist leaders assure that the popular leader “has gone from claiming the center to competing with Vox in his proposals.”
For its part, from Vox they accuse the PP of adopting proposals that they consider their own, which reflects the open struggle within the political space of the right.
Despite these tensions, Feijóo maintains internal control of the party and the support of most territorial directorates. In these four years, he has consolidated his organic leadership and has stabilized the internal structure after the 2022 crisis.
