PP widens its lead over Socialists, says latest poll

The Popular Party (PP) has widened its lead over the Socialists nearly one month before the general elections, a new poll conducted for EL PAÍS reveals.

Latest figures from a Metroscopia survey show that the PP would gain an absolute majority in Congress if the elections were held today. Mariano Rajoy and the PP could win with as much as 45.5-percent support in the November 20 vote, compared with 29.7 percent for the Socialists led by Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, according to the Madrid-based research institute. In September, a poll taken for EL PAÍS showed that the PP had 44.8-percent backing compared with 30.7 percent for the Socialists.

The ruling Socialists stand to win between 115-120 seats in Congress opposed to the 185-190 seats that are expected to go to the PP, Metroscopia says. Currently, the Socialists hold 169 seats while the PP has 154 in the 350-seat parliament.

When it comes to candidate approval, voters believe that Rajoy is better prepared to deal with the ongoing financial crisis than Rubalcaba. In another issue, more than 60 percent of Spaniards say they support a PP proposal to introduce life sentences for some convicted felons as long as the perpetual prison terms are subject to review on a case-by-case basis. More than 70 percent say they would like to see election slates unblocked so that voters can select their own order of candidates.