Government > Leaders Stats: compare key data on Spain & United Kingdom

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STAT	Spain	United Kingdom	HISTORY
Head of state	King Juan Carlos I	Queen Elizabeth II
Head of state > Profile	<p>Spaniards credit King Juan Carlos with steering the country to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and for saving Spain from a coup attempt in 1981.</p> <p>However, the royal family&#039;s popularity has declined in recent years, amid criticism that it is out of touch with ordinary Spaniards as they struggle with a severe economic crisis. </p> <p>King Juan Carlos&#039;s reputation has been tarnished by an ongoing corruption inquiry implicating his son-in-law, and by a luxury elephant-hunting safari in Botswana in April 2012 at a time of record unemployment in his country.</p> <p>The Spanish chapter of the conservation group WWF removed King Juan Carlos as its honorary president after news of the elephant-hunting trip emerged.</p>	<p>Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952 upon the death of her father, George VI.</p> <p>She is the second longest serving head of state, after the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was crowned in 1946.</p> <p>She is also head of state of 16 independent countries including Canada and Australia.</p> <p>As a constitutional monarch, her role in the legislative process is largely ceremonial.</p>
Head of state > Summary	King Juan Carlos I	Queen Elizabeth is head of state of 16 countries
Prime minister	Mariano Rajoy	David Cameron
Prime minister > Profile	<p>Mariano Rajoy became prime minister in December 2011 after his conservative Popular Party won a resounding victory in parliamentary elections.</p><p>The election campaign was dominated by Spain&#039;s deep debt crisis and sky-high unemployment, and the governing Socialists&#039; defeat was widely expected.</p> <p>Mr Rajoy, who has long been known as a cautious public administrator, warned the Spanish people that there is no miracle cure to restore the country to economic health.</p> <p>The son of a lawyer, Mariano Rajoy grew up in a socially conservative Catholic environment, studied law and began his career as a land registrar.</p> <p>He became a regional deputy for the Popular Party at the age of 26 and rose steadily through the party ranks.</p> <p>He held a number of ministerial positions in the governments of Jose Maria Aznar from 1996 to 2004, and was rewarded for his loyalty and discipline when Mr Aznar chose him as his successor as party leader.</p> <p>As leader of the opposition after the 2004 election, Mr Rajoy struggled to rebuild the party&#039;s fortunes.</p> <p>His staying power finally paid dividends when the global economic downturn destroyed public faith in the Socialists&#039; ability to steer the country through a period of deep crisis.</p> <p>In office he has nonetheless struggled to impose financial discipline, and had to turn to the European Union to bail out the banking sector in June 2012.</p> <p>He has pledged to cut government spending by 16.5bn euros (£13.7bn, $21.5bn) and to reduce the public deficit to 6.5% by the end of 2013 - a target that the IMF deems realistic after the failure of an over-ambitious plan to cut it to 4.4% in 2012.</p> <p>In addition, he faces a serious move towards independence by Catalonia, Spain&#039;s wealthiest region, and allegations of links to the case of Luis Barcenas, an ex-treasurer of the Popular Party and suspect in a payments scandal.</p>	<p>David Cameron became prime minister at the head of a coalition government on 11 May 2010, returning his centre-right Conservative Party to power after 13 years of rule by the centre-left Labour Party.</p> <p>Mr Cameron formed a partnership with the third party, the traditionally social liberal Liberal Democrats, after an inconclusive parliamentary election from which the Conservatives emerged with the largest number of seats, but without an absolute majority.</p> <p>It is the first formal coalition government in 70 years to govern the UK, where the electoral system usually guarantees a majority for the largest party.</p> <p>The partnership has proved fractious, with Mr Cameron at times seen as struggling to maintain discipline. Several constitutional reform projects - including plans for an elected upper house of parliament and changes to voting for the lower house - have fallen by the wayside as a result of deep differences between the two parties.</p> <p>Deep cuts</span> <p>On coming to power, the new PM was confronted by a daunting economic situation, with the UK only slowly emerging from a deep recession caused by the 2008 global financial collapse, and facing a rapidly mounting budget deficit.</p> <p>Mr Cameron promised that cutting the deficit would be his top priority. In October 2010, Mr Cameron&#039;s government announced a programme of deep cuts in government spending - the UK&#039;s largest in generations.</p> <p>In late 2013, improved growth estimates and employment figures suggested the economic gloom may be lifting, but concerns remained about the sustainability of the recovery, as well continuing pressure on household finances.</p> <p>All of this came against the background of the continuing crisis in the eurozone, and Mr Cameron has faced pressure from the right of his party to distance Britain further from any deeper European Union integration. </p> <p>The prime minister sought to ease this tension in 2013 by proposing a referendum on whether to leave the European Union after the next election, although this faces opposition from both the Liberal Democrats and Labour.</p> <p>Born the son of a wealthy stockbroker in 1966 in London, Mr Cameron was educated at Eton College - Britain&#039;s top private school - and Oxford University. Aged 43 on coming to power, he was the youngest prime minister since 1812.</p>
Prime minister > Summary	Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy came to power at a time of economic crisis	David Cameron heads a coalition government

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