en The leader who was never there: . Antonio Hernández Mancha and the Spanish political right

Abstract

Antonio Hernández Mancha led the Spanish political right between 1987 and 1989. During those years he became the president of People’s Alliance with the objective to renew the forces of conservatism. His renewed image, his youthful air and his populist and cheerful tone were not enough to face the crisis that Spanish conservatives suffered during those years. The strategic mistakes, the internal divisions, the problems in its territorial delegations, the rise of rival formations or the doctrinal shortcomings of Hernández Mancha weakened his leadership. It was this situation that made the right wing aware of the need to face a refoundation that would end up giving rise to the People’s Party as a new center-right force. Although Hernández Mancha would start that path as a way of survival, his weakness would prevent him from completing the journey, positioned as the missing link in the transition of the Spanish right.