Pedro Sanchez becomes the new Prime Minister of Spain following no confidence vote

PEDRO SANCHEZ, the leader of the left-leaning Partido Socialista (PSOE), has become the new Prime Minister of Spain after predecessor Mariano Rajoy lost a no confidence vote in Parliament today.

The PSOE-proposed vote was backed by 180 lawmakers in the Congress of Deputies, with 169 votes against and one abstention.

Mariano Rajoy, of the conservative Partido Popular (PP), became the first Prime Minister in Spain’s democratic history to be ousted by a no confidence vote. It was called in the wake of the Gurtel kickbacks-for-contracts scandal.