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Surviving But Not Thriving: VOX and Spain in Times of COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2022

Lisa Zanotti Open the ORCID record for Lisa Zanotti [Opens in a new window]  and
Stuart James Turnbull-Dugarte Open the ORCID record for Stuart James Turnbull-Dugarte [Opens in a new window]
Lisa Zanotti*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Science and History, Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile
Stuart James Turnbull-Dugarte
Affiliation:
Department of Politics, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lisa.zanotti@mail.udp.cl
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Abstract

In this article, we triangulate qualitative data regarding the framing of the pandemic and the strategic decisions taken by Spain's new populist radical right-wing party, VOX, with a quantitative analysis of aggregate polling data and individual-level survey responses to answer three questions: how has VOX framed the politics of the pandemic? What actions has VOX taken in response to COVID-19? Have the events of the COVID-19 crisis affected VOX's electoral chances? We argue that VOX's response to the pandemic has focused on augmenting the antagonistic relationship between itself and the political establishment, especially the left-wing government. Strategically, VOX has sought to leverage the health crisis to engage in legislative manoeuvres aiming, without success, to position itself as the primary party-in-waiting for right-wing voters. We also demonstrate that VOX has proven to be resilient against the potential for electoral decline that was widely prophesied at the beginning of the pandemic.

Keywords

COVID-19oppositionpopulismradical rightSpainVOX
Type
Article
Information
Government and Opposition , First View , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Government and Opposition Limited

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