Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero suffered a rebuff from within his own party Sunday, as his Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) rejected his favoured candidate for local elections next year, dpa reported.
Zapatero had favoured Trinidad Jimenez, the popular health minister, as the top candidate for regional elections in May 2011, but the Madrid regional organization chose Madrid PSOE head Tomas Gomez with 51.7 per cent.
Jimenez received 48 per cent. Zapatero, relying on polling results, believed her to be the best candidate for victory in the Madrid region, which has been held for 15 years by conservatives.
Gomez refused to withdraw his candidacy for party support.
According to a recent poll by the newspaper El Pais, the PSOE has slumped in popularity to 28.5 per cent if the elections were held now. The conservative Popular Party (PP) got 43 per cent support.