Vicente González Lizondo (Valencia, Spain, 22 August 1942 - 23 December 1996) was a Spanish politician and co-founder of the regional party Valencian Union (Unió Valenciana.)

Early life

Married with four children, González was a businessman and the owner of a factory which made paintbrushes.

His early political involvement was as a member of the Valencian Regional Union (Unio Regional Valencianista/URV), a political party formed after the Spanish General Election of 1977. Politically he was conservative and strongly anti-Catalan

Blaverism

Blaverism is a body of ideas in the Valencian Community, Spain that emerged with the Spanish transition to democracy after the death of Francisco Franco, and characterised by its opposition to Joan Fuster's book Nosaltres, els valencians , which revived the concept of Països Catalans which...

, opposing those who favoured a pan-Catalan approach which would link the Valencian Community with Catalunya and other Catalan speaking areas Consequently on 30 August 1982 he joined other members of URV in forming the Valencian Union (UV) becoming President for Valencia Province.

Mayoral candidate

In May 1983 he was elected to Valencia City Council at the head of the UV list and set his sights on becoming Mayor of Valencia. When the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

 (PSOE) Mayor Ricard Pérez Casado

Ricard Pérez Casado

Ricard Pérez Casado is a Spanish politician and former mayor of Valencia who belongs to the governing Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ....

 resigned in January 1989 he stood but lost to PSOE candidate Clementina Ródenas by 13 votes to 14.

In 1991 he again ran for Mayor and again narrowly lost to Rita Barbera Nolla

Rita Barberá Nolla

Rita Barberá Nolla has been the Mayor of Valencia, Spain since 1991. She is a member of the National Council of the People's Party of Spain and Representative in the Valencian regional Parliament . She turned down an offer to become a national deputy at the 2008 Spanish General Election.-External...

 of the People's Party

People's Party (Spain)

The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...

 (PP)

National MP and President of the Valencian Corts

Six years later in 1989 he headed the UV list in the 1989 General Election

Spanish general election, 1989

-Results:-External links:**...

 and was elected to the national parliament as a deputy for Valencia province

Valencia (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Valencia is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies—the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is the third largest district in Congress in terms of the numbers of deputies elected, as it elects sixteen deputies out of the total...

. He was re-elected at the 1993 General Election

Spanish general election, 1993

-Results:-External links:*...

 however UV lost one of their two seats at that election. One year later, in October 1994, he resigned his parliamentary seat and was replaced by his party colleague José María Chiquillo Barber

José María Chiquillo Barber

José María Chiquillo Barber is a Spanish politician who currently serves as Senator for Valencia province as part of the People's Party ....

.

In 1995

Elections to the Corts Valencianes, 1995

The Elections to the Corts Valencianes, 1995 were the fourth democratic elections to the Corts Valencianes, the Valencian regional parliament, since the Spanish transition to democracy and were held on 28 May of that year...

 he was elected to the Corts Valencianes

Corts Valencianes

The Corts Valencianes are the main legislative body of the Generalitat Valenciana and therefore of the Valencian Community. The main location of the Corts is in the Palace of Benicarló in Valencia; however it can meet at any location in Valencian territory. The Corts has its origins in bodies...

, the Valencian regional parliament and was elected President of the Corts as a result of a pact formed between UV and the larger PP.

Expulsion from UV and death

He was expelled from UV on 30 November 1996 and three weeks later collapsed of a heart attack during a parliamentary session which was discussing the creation of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche. This proved fatal as he died several days later. González had previously suffered two heart attacks and doctors speculated that the stress of the events surrounding his expulsion from the party may have led to his fatal heart attack. Another possible factor cited was the lengthy parliamentary session that he had presided over.

Vicente González-Lizondo y Sánchez

Following his death, his son, Vicente González-Lizondo y Sánchez, (Valencia, 17 June 1975) entered Valencian politics as a member of UV rising to become Party President in Valencia Province. UV's results had continued to decline in this period and they had lost their representation in both the Corts Valencianes and Valencia city council in 1999 and in the national parliament in 2000.

In May 2007 he stood as the party's candidate for Mayor of Valencia but following further poor results
the entire leadership of the party in Valencia Province resigned in protest at the actions of the Party's National President, José Manuel Miralles. This led to speculation that the resignations could spell the beginning of the end for UV as a party.