[1] The PSOE came second with 15 seats, its defeat mainly attributed to independent mayor of Santander Juan Hormaechea's personal appeal in the concurrent local elections securing an insurmountable lead of 22,000 votes in favour of the Coalition in the capital city of Cantabria.

Voting for the Regional Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Cantabria and in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights.

[17][18] The regional Statute, which would establish the territory of the province as a single electoral constituency instead of the judicial districts which had been considered during the drafting process,[19][20] was finally approved on 15 December 1981,[21][22][23] coming into force on 31 January 1982.

The PSOE had seen a regional leadership lasting only nine months as a result of the resignation of party's secretary general Pilar Quintanal in August 1980,[25][26][27] who had been elected to the post in November 1979,[28] being replaced by Congress deputy Jaime Blanco.

[48] Later, the formation of the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) by former prime minister Adolfo Suárez had a severe impact in the UCD regional as its leadership joined the new party.

[68][69][70] By the time the UCD's executive had voted for the liquidation of the party's mounting debts and its subsequent dissolution on 18 February 1983,[3][71][72] electoral alliances with the AP–PDP coalition had only been agreed in some provinces of the Basque Country and Galicia.

Under Article 16 of the Statute, investiture processes to elect the president of the Regional Council of Cantabria required of an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot.

[7][56][87] In an investiture session held on 14 June 1983, José Antonio Rodríguez Martínez was re-elected as president of the Regional Council with an absolute majority of votes.

[91] AP demanded Rodríguez Martínez to hand over his post,[92][93] which the later refused,[94][95] amid accusations of "irresponsability" and of political meddling to coherce local mayors into supporting the regional president.

[96][97] Manuel Fraga's party subsequently threatened to bring Rodríguez down through a motion of no confidence which, nonetheless, required the votes from the PDP deputies that still supported the President.

[98][99][100] The personal intervention in the crisis of AP and PDP leaders, Manuel Fraga and Óscar Alzaga, in an effort to prevent it from escalating further and disrupting the nationwide alliance between both parties, eventually led to Rodríguez Martínez accepting to resign the post of regional president while retaining his seat in the Regional Assembly and abandoning the People's Coalition group, leaving the new government in a parliamentary minority.