1982 Election and Disbanding
Following the attempted coup of 1981, the socialists convincingly won the 1982 general election. The UCD, presenting Landelino Lavilla as its candidate for prime minister, was nearly wiped out, taking only 6.7% of the vote and 11 seats, losing over 100 of their sitting deputies--one of the worst defeats ever suffered by a western European governing party. The CDS also fared poorly, with only two of its sixteen sitting deputies winning seats.
Most of the UCD’s electorate became supporters of the AP-PDP alliance, which later became the People's Party, today Spain's principal conservative party. The AP-PDP displaced the UCD as the main alternative to the PSOE.
Many ex ministers and leaders of UCD also joined the AP ranks. Subsequently, the UCD was disbanded on 18 February 1983.
Read more about this topic: Union Of The Democratic Centre (Spain)
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“Savages cling to a local god of one tribe or town. The broad ethics of Jesus were quickly narrowed to village theologies, which preach an election or favoritism.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)