This paper explores the differential influence of government ideology and education governance on the gender policies of socialist and conservative administrations in Spain from 1983 onwards.The first national policies which favoured equal rights for men and women in education, employment, and social and political life were developed under a European framework and promoted by the National Institute for Women, and governments of the autonomous communities. This was followed by a national policy strategy for gender which initially focused on education but whose influence gradually weakened. The situation changed once more in 2004 when the new socialist government developed a range of policies to promote equal opportunities for men and women. The paper closes with a reflection on how policy on gender equity developed in Spain between 1970 and the present, and the impact of different political ideologies and discourses on that process. It is argued that while policy researchers have long emphasised the impact of government ideology on educational policy and governance (e.g. Lingard and Ozga, 2007; Fullan 2001; Fullan et al., 1997), there are few analyses ofthe impact of different forms of ideology and governance on gender policy-making, of which the study reported in this paper is an example.