The exodus of Sumar: fourteen names who have quit in two and a half years

MadridMoviment Sumar, the party founded by Yolanda Díaz to have its own brand, is going through one of the weakest moments in its short history. On the eve of the formation's third assembly, the internal war that has emerged in recent weeks has made evident wounds that will be difficult to heal in the eyes of the electorate. From July 11 onwards, the party will be led by the tandem formed by Verónica Martínez Barbero, current spokesperson for Sumar in Congress, and Rosa Martínez, Secretary of State for Social Rights. One of the strong figures will be Ernest Urtasun, Minister of Culture and also a member of the Comuns executive. However, there is a relevant name who will not continue: Lara Hernández, who until now was the party's coordinator and who has decided to step down after denouncing a “brutal smear campaign” against her. Her resignation adds to a long list of visible figures — both from the party and the parliamentary group — who have abandoned a ship that has never really set sail.

Two coordinators take a step back

Lara Hernández has left after the complaint filed against her by six organic and institutional party officials for alleged workplace harassment was archived. The internal investigation lasted five months, but the protocol commission has shelved it after the complainants and witnesses backed down: “All the lies and all the insults I have had to endure have been proven false,” she stressed when she announced it. In her farewell, she apologized to progressive people for the “spectacle” the party has put on and called for a “fundamental recomposition” of the left-wing space.

Three weeks earlier, the departure of Laura Moreno, who was organization secretary, had become known: “Silence in the face of what I consider injustices breeds impunity,” she expressed in the harsh resignation letter she sent to the executive. She is the one who brought to light the file that was open against Lara Hernández and who revealed that the internal dispute was intensifying. Previously, David Comas, who was responsible for communication and discourse, had also resigned.

For a long time, Lara Hernández was the sole coordinator of the party —despite the statutes providing for a bicameral system— last August Carlos Martín resigned, who was tandem with her, alleging personal reasons: “In recent months, my health has given me some warnings and it is time to pay attention to it”. Of course, he has continued to be a congressman and spokesperson for Economy and Finance of the parliamentary group–. Both were elected in the assembly that Sumar held in March 2025A few days earlier, the one who took a step back was Elizabeth Duval, who was the party's spokesperson, after having noted the "limitations of institutional and partisan politics".

The renewal of the dome

After next week's conclave, there are four relevant names that will not be repeated in the executive of Moviment Sumar. The first is Txema Guijarro, who led the area of Parliamentary Action and Social Rights and is currently the general secretary of the parliamentary group in Congress. The second is the diplomat Agustín Santos, who was in charge of the International area and is also a deputy in the lower house. He was Spain's ambassador to the UN from 2018 to 2023 and Yolanda Díaz signed him as number two on the Sumar list for Madrid on 23-J. The other two are Fabio Cortese, from the mobilization area and involved in the dialogue with Comuns, Esquerra Unida, and Més Madrid to articulate a coalition for the next general elections, and Manuel Lago, from the labor and economy area. And a fifth departure: Joaquín Pérez Rey, Yolanda Díaz's number two in the Ministry of Labor, will not continue in the party's coordination group.

Two parliamentary spokespersons

But the resignations go back further and have also appeared in the congressional parliamentary group, which Moviment Sumar shares with other formations. The first significant resignation came six months after the Spanish elections. It was Marta Lois, who was chosen to be the first spokesperson in Congress. She packed her bags to be the lead candidate for the party in Galicia, but she didn't even get 2% of the votes and was left out of the Galician Parliament. Days later, she announced she was leaving politics.

Her successor in the Carrera de San Jerónimo was Íñigo Errejón, who was part of Més Madrid. But he hadn't even been spokesperson for a year when he announced his resignation and that he was leaving politics pursued by accusations of sexual harassment and after admitting he had had a "toxic" attitude. "I have reached the limit of the contradiction between the persona and the person," he expressed. Two and a half years later, a Madrid judge has sent Errejón to trial for an alleged sexual assault on the actress Elisa Mouliaá. The one who took over from him was Verónica Martínez Barbero, a profile close to Yolanda Díaz and who will now be one of the two new leaders of the party.

The scars of the blow in the European elections

Sumar suffered a harsh setback in the European elections of June 2024. Yolanda Díaz's party obtained 815,000 votes and 4.7% of the ballots: half of the votes of Vox and only 15,000 more than Alvise Pérez. Following this defeat, Yolanda Díaz decided to disassociate herself from the party's organic life. But she was not the only departure. María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop, who had been the head of the list for Unidas Podemos in Europe in 2019, also stepped down. In the summer of 2023, she had coordinated the development of the electoral program for July 23rd and had been appointed head of the party's international affairs less than seven months ago.