Errejón, who took on — and lost to — Iglesias for Podemos’ leadership in 2017, had been tapped to represent the party in May's election, when a new regional parliament will be chosen. But on Thursday, Errejón said he had joined a new, cross-party movement called Más Madrid (More Madrid) and would run on its ticket in the election instead.[...]
Podemos' branch in Andalusia, Adelante Andalucía, finished fourth in an election in December that saw its share of the vote plummet by more than 30 percent from a 2015 ballot. Podemos is currently the third-biggest party in the national parliament, but most recent polls place it fourth.
Analysts often blame Podemos’ loss of support on decisions such as refusing to endorse Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s bid for power back in 2016 — which effectively allowed the conservatives to stay longer in office; striking an alliance with the communist United Left; and its stance on Catalan independence — Podemos often sides with the separatists, backed the vote on secession and opposed Madrid assuming control over the region after the declaration of independence.
Errejón — a 35-year-old politics professor — has been portrayed as a moderate in contrast with the hard-liner Iglesias, although public differences between the two have often been more about marketing than policies. Errejón has been a firm defender of using language that goes beyond old leftist stereotypes in a bid to attract wider support.
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