Ana Lozano (1944-) was Prime Minister of Spain from 2016 to 2017, succeeding Maria Verastegui and preceding Ines LaRiva. Her government's only success was establishing an income tax, while the Congress rebelled against her by passing a protest prohibition law, and her party handily lost the next general election as a result. Lozano was the last of three consecutive PSOE prime ministers.
Biography[]
Ana Lozano was born in Getafe, Spain in 1944, and she worked as a schoolteacher before becoming involved in the teacher's union and the PSOE party. In 2000, she was elected to Congress as a PSOE deputy, and, in 2016, she was elected party leader after incumbent party leader Maria Verastegui resigned due to her party's electoral defeat that year. Despite the PSOE placing second in the general election, Lozano defeated PP leader Ines LaRiva for the premiership in a vote of 27-12.
Lozano's first act as Prime Minister was to successfully advocate for the passage of an income tax, which passed 28-5. Despite her opposition, the Parliament voted 17-15 to ban protests, and nearly abolished the pollution tax. The government then abolished the agricultural subsidy 20-11 to decrease government expenditure, although Podemos and some of the Ciudadanos advocated its continuation. In the mid-2017 general election, the PSOE lost another seat; the PP and Ciudadanos tied at 13 seats, the PSOE won 11, and Podemos remained at 3 seats. In the ensuing leadership election, Lozano did not qualify, and PP leader Ines LaRiva defeated Ciudadanos leader Alejandro Riveros 24-11.