For almost 30 years, she let her husband, the former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, soak up the political limelight, but 10 years after he quit politics to join Facebook, Miriam González Durántez is weighing up a move to enter the political fray herself.
The lawyer and former EU foreign adviser is considering heading a new liberal party in her native Spain after a perceived gap opened up after the collapse of the centre-liberal party Ciudadanos (Citizens) and amid ongoing crises in the current socialist government headed by Pedro Sánchez.
It is understood she has had talks with the Renew grouping of liberal parties in Europe earlier this summer with a view to launching a party that aims to re-energise the political centre, not just in Spain but also in the EU.
A lawyer by profession, with a formidable reputation, González Durántez is already laying the foundations for a potential move into the public arena.
In 2023, she founded España Mejor, Better Spain, a non-profit political organisation which aims to encourage Spanish civil society to participate in the development of public policy.
Among the goals of Better Spain, which some might read as the bones of a manifesto, are a new water policy, a “realistic” housing policy”, more and better jobs, tax proposals for young people, a tax policy “for everyone to grow”, and the elimination of special legal privileges for 250,000 people in Spain including public officials.
At a public meeting of Better Spain in Cádiz on Friday, she said: “If civil society proves incapable of cleaning up politics I’ll consider establishing a political party,” the local La Voz de Cádiz reported.
Clegg was a prominent politician in the UK, serving as leader of the Liberal Democrats between 2007 and 2015 and becoming deputy prime minister to Conservative David Cameron between 2010 and 2015, as part of the first full coalition government in Britain since 1945.
During his tenure as leader, he rejected the “tribalism of left and right” and instead positioned the party in the “radical centre” of middle-income progressive voters. He supported reduced taxes, electoral reform, cuts and an increased focus on environmental issues.
He stepped down as leader of the party after it was nearly wiped out in 2015 election, with some blaming the defeat on his decision to get into bed with the Conservatives in the first place, breaking a key election promise over university fees in the process.
Clegg quit politics in the UK and took up a new role in 2018 in California as the head of global affairs and communications at Facebook.
At the same time González Durántez pursued a number of interests including a mentoring project, Inspiring Girls International, and Altius Advisory, a consultancy she founded aimed at bettering business in Africa.
Before that she spent years in Brussels and London advising on diversity, liberal reform, and international trade policy.
They returned to the UK from California after Clegg left Meta in January and she now spends weekdays in Spain and weekends when she can in London, according to a recent interview.
Her lengthy career included three stints as a member of cabinet in the EU’s external relations commission, including one as a senior trade adviser to Chris Patten, the former British commissioner for external relations. She also spent two years working as a negotiator at the World Trade Organization.
Her father, José Antonio González Caviedes, was mayor of Olmedo and served as a senator for the conservative People’s party (PP) from 1989 until he died in 1996.
González Durántez was not available for comment, but when asked if she was considering setting up her own party, a spokesperson for Better Spain said the lawyer had been working for the past two years to mobilise civil society and on effort to “clean up Spanish politics” and “end the pendulum of corruption and counteract polarisation”.
The spokesperson added: “She has publicly stated on numerous occasions that if Spanish political parties continue to ignore civil society, she would consider other options including political ones. For the time being she continues working on those objectives within España Mejor.
“As part of her work as the founder of España Mejor, she has held meetings with all sorts of organisations, public institutions, businesses and citizens across Spain, as well as multiple political parties, within Spain and Europe.”
Founding a new party and bringing it to a position of political heft is laden with risk in Spain, as it is in any country.
Spanish politics remains doggedly bipartisan, with the socialist and conservative parties rarely achieving an overall majority.
While the two-party system has been loosened from both left (Podemos) and right (Vox) the attempt by Ciudadanos, led by Albert Rivera, a young lawyer, to break the deadlock fizzled out to the point that the party didn’t even contest the 2023 general election.
Pablo Simón, a political scientist at the Carlos III university in Madrid, predicted an uphill struggle for González if she throws her hat into the ring.
“This proposal for a new centrist party seems to come from above, not from the grassroots,” he said.
“I think it’s a bad moment to launch such a party. For one thing, voters who are fed up with the government are moving the right and the far right and prefer pre-existing parties to new ones. It would make more sense to wait for the European elections when there is a better chance of gaining representation.
“Miriam González is largely unknown in Spain. When you launch a party it’s best to have a someone well-known to front it. Perhaps González would make a better deputy than leader.”
He added that liberal parties had had little success in newer democracies such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. “This is because, being new democracies, the politics are polarised between left and right.”
Political power couples
It may be some time before Miriam González Durántez decides whether to follow her husband’s footsteps into formal politics, but if she does she will join an illustrious list of power couples who have graced the world stage.
1. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton
Although she was unsuccessful in her attempt to follow Bill into the White House, Hillary Clinton and her husband were at one time the most powerful couple in modern American politics. A lawyer, politician and diplomat, Hillary achieved high office in her own right as two-time senator for New York and US secretary of state. The pair continue to wield influence with the Clinton Foundation.
2. Nelson and Winnie Mandela
Before their divorce and her marginalisation after his release from prison in 1990, the couple were considered the mother and father of the nation of South Africa. Winnie Mandela became an MP and a minister and during the fight against apartheid she was a potent symbol of the struggle, but her reputation was seriously damaged several times by allegations of murder and corruption. She was convicted of kidnapping, assault, theft and fraud. As one of the most visible faces of the resistance, she was regularly detained and harassed by the police and considered so powerful she was even prohibited from speaking to the media.
3. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Néstor Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the first woman to be elected president of Argentina in 2007, a role she held until 2015. Succeeding her husband Néstor, the charismatic but divisive figure was permanently banned from public office in June over a corruption conviction.