Miriam González presented Democracia21 in Madrid over the weekend, the new political party with which she hopes to break away from Spain's traditional parties and appeal to centrist voters, with the aim of "reinvigorating Spanish democracy".
Spain has a new name in the electoral race for 29 November: Miriam González Durántez announced on 10 October her candidacy for the general election at the head of Democracia21 (d21), a newly created party that will make its debut only in Madrid and Barcelona, with plans to expand across the country in future contests at the ballot box.
Who is Miriam González?
Born in 1968 in Olmedo (Valladolid), she is the daughter of two teachers and studied in Belgium thanks to a scholarship. She is a lawyer specialising in international trade, and her public profile grew over many years in the United Kingdom, where she lived with her husband Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister between 2010 and 2015 in the coalition government led by David Cameron.
González is also the founder of the charity Inspiring Girls. In Spain she led the civic platform España Mejor, which became the seed that grew into a move into party politics.
At the launch she justified her decision as a personal commitment, saying she felt "a monumental debt" to the country for the opportunities she received as the granddaughter of farmers. Clegg attended the event, along with former Union Progress and Democracy party figures such as Rafael Calduch, Fernando Maura and Beatriz Becerra.
Will it be a successor to Ciudadanos?
The comparison with the centrist Ciudadanos or Citizens Party, arises almost automatically; however, González sidesteps it. According to reports, she avoids choosing between centre-left, centre or centre-right, and insists she does not want to rebuild any previous party. Before founding Democracia21 she described herself as "liberal in the British sense".
Her project is presented as cross-cutting and focused on institutional regeneration. So although Democracia21 hopes to attract moderate voters tired of the two major blocs, any parallel with Ciudadanos should be treated as political analysis rather than as something the candidate herself claims.
Housing is centrepiece of Democracia21's programme
The housing crisis, the main concern for Spaniards, sits at the core of her manifesto. She proposes a national plan to build new neighbourhoods, under cross-party agreements that would provide legal certainty for ten years.
She proposes scrapping all housing-related taxes for people under 35. She is also urging Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo to negotiate with Brussels over €10 billion in unspent Next Generation European funds, to create a sovereign fund for protected and affordable housing.
Immigration based on control and integration
On migration, González describes it as an asset for Spain, but argues that the state must decide the conditions of entry and exit.
Her most quoted line after the presentation of Democracia21 was that xenophobic discourse must be banished, while at the same time deciding who enters, how and when.
Institutional regeneration as a flagship policy
Her most forceful axis is the clean-up of institutions. She proposes cutting the number of political advisers by 90%, professionalising the civil service on merit and ability, and changing the General Council of the Judiciary.
She adds that the Public Prosecutor's Office should be accountable to Parliament, that there should be courts specialised in corruption, the abolition of special legal privileges and cuts to subsidies for parties and foundations.
She also wants parliamentarians to meet their voters "at least every two weeks", following the British model. In education, she advocates more flexible degree programmes and more work placements; in the economy, she calls for fewer barriers to entrepreneurship.
A test in Madrid and Barcelona
Democracia21 is starting from scratch and will only stand in the constituencies of Madrid and Barcelona, which limits its ceiling of representation. Her aim is to win over those who, in her words, are tired of voting "while holding their nose" because of the stench of polarisation and tension that has marked political discourse in recent years.
Whether or not it manages to become a real alternative will depend on whether its message of regeneration, housing and consensus catches on in a campaign lasting less than two months.