Pablo Iglesias leaves Spanish politics, ‘very proud’ of Podemos legacy

Former deputy prime minister says he led a project that changed the history of our country'

• People's party wins Madrid snap election but fails to get majority

One of the more remarkable and once-unthinkable trajectories in modern Spanish politics came to an end a little before midnight on Tuesday when the Podemos leader and former deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias announced he was leaving the political stage for good.

Speaking after the conservative People's party (PP) triumphed in the Madrid regional election in which he had stood as his party's candidate, Iglesias said the time had come for him to leave my post and leave politics". But the former politics lecturer added that he remained very proud" to have led a project that changed the history of our country".