Pedro Sánchez Elected New PSOE Leader in Spain

Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) members have chosen Pedro Snchez as their new secretary general.

With 82% of the votes counted, Snchez had won 49.6% of the ballots, followed by Susana Diaz in second place on 40.2% and Patxi Lpez in third place with 10.2%.

Mr. Snchez improved on his previous 2014 win by some 3,000 votes.

Several Spanish media outlets reported shortly after 9:35 p.m. that Susana Diaz had phoned Mr. Snchez to concede defeat.

PSOE MP Odn Elorza, a member of Snchez's team, tweeted: "That's it!! The epic story won!!! Pedro and a team of thousands of socialists won".

Excited Pedro Snchez supporters were filmed singing socialist anthem The Internationale, fists raised, outside PSOE HQ in Madrid.

Patxi Lpez said in a press conference after the results were announced that this was now "the end of the internal process" and that "Spanish society is now waiting for us" to be the "reference on the left".

Susana Diaz, accepting her defeat, thanked members for taking part in the ballot and that she would "get stuck in and do whatever the party needed" to move forward: "The PSOE has to be a governing alternative in Spain".

She referred several times to "the party" but did not mention Pedro Snchez by name or congratulate him.

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