2019 Portuguese legislative election

2019 Portuguese legislative election

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230 seats in the Assembly of the Republic 116 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	10,777,258 11.3%[1]
Turnout	5,237,484 (48.6%) 7.3 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader António Costa Rui Rio Catarina Martins Party PS PSD BE Leader since 28 September 2014 18 February 2018 30 November 2014 Leader's seat Lisbon Porto Porto Last election 86 seats, 32.3% 89 seats (PàF)[a] 19 seats, 10.2% Seats won 108 79 19 Seat change 22 10 0 Popular vote 1,903,687 1,454,283 498,549 Percentage 36.3% 27.8% 9.5% Swing 4.0 pp N/A 0.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jerónimo de Sousa Assunção Cristas André Silva Party PCP CDS–PP PAN Alliance CDU Leader since 27 November 2004 13 March 2016 26 October 2014 Leader's seat Lisbon Lisbon[c] Lisbon Last election 17 seats, 8.3%[b] 18 seats (PàF)[a] 1 seats, 1.4% Seats won 12 5 4 Seat change 5 13 3 Popular vote 332,018 221,094 173,931 Percentage 6.3% 4.2% 3.3% Swing 1.9 pp N/A 1.9 pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader André Ventura Carlos Guimarães Pinto Collective leadership[d] Party CH IL LIVRE Leader since 9 April 2019 13 October 2018 11 August 2019 Leader's seat Lisbon Porto (Lost) - Last election Did not contest Did not contest 0 seats, 0.7% Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 1 1 1 Popular vote 67,502 67,443 56,940 Percentage 1.3% 1.3% 1.1% Swing New party New party 0.4 pp
Vote winner strength by district Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election António Costa PS Prime Minister after election António Costa PS

The 2019 Portuguese legislative election was held on 6 October 2019.^[2] All 230 seats to the Assembly of the Republic were contested.

In a campaign dominated by the Tancos airbase robbery^[3] (in which former Defense Minister Azeredo Lopes (2015–2018) was accused of trying to cover-up the finding of the stolen weapons in the robbery), but also with the good economic situation in Portugal, the Socialist Party (PS) won the elections with 36 percent of the votes and 108 seats, a gain of 22 compared with 2015. The PS won the big districts of Porto and Lisbon, although Porto was closer than expected, and was able to gain districts from the PSD, like Aveiro and Viana do Castelo, by razor thin margins.^[4] The PS won the city of Lisbon, however with a smaller share of the vote compared with 2015, 33 vs 35 percent, and, surprisingly lost the city of Porto to the PSD.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) obtained 28 percent of the votes and won 79 seats. The party lost 10 seats compared with 2015, and, in terms of share of vote, it was the worst result since 1983, however in terms of seats, it was only the worst result since 2005, when the party won 75 seats. The PSD was able to hold on to their bastions of Viseu, Vila Real, Bragança, Leiria and Madeira. On election night, PSD leader Rui Rio classified the results as "not a disaster" and left the door open to continue as party leader.^[5] However, in the aftermath of the election, several members of the party announced their intention to challenge Rio's leadership.^[6]

The Left Bloc (BE) achieved a similar result to 2015. The party won almost 10 percent of the votes and held the 19 seats elected in 2015. On election night, Catarina Martins said she was open to new negotiations with PS. The Unitary Democratic Coalition, (CDU), PCP-PEV coalition, suffered heavy losses, with 6.3 percent of the votes and 12 seats, and Jerónimo de Sousa, PCP secretary-general, said on election night that written agreements with PS were off the table. CDS – People's Party got just 4.2 percent of the votes, and got a parliamentary caucus reduced to just 5 seats, the lowest since 1991 and when the party was called the "taxi party", down from 18 in the 2015 election. Assunção Cristas, CDS leader, resigned on election night, called for a snap party congress and announced she would not run for reelection.^[7] People-Animals-Nature (PAN) saw a big increase in its share of the vote, winning 3.3% and 4 seats from Lisbon, Porto and Setúbal.

This election was marked by the entry of three new parties in Parliament. The right-wing/far-right party CHEGA (CH) was one of the big surprises on election night by electing an MP from Lisbon. It was the first time since the return to democracy that a right-wing/far-right party gained representation in Parliament.^[8][9] LIVRE and Liberal Initiative also elected one MP for Lisbon. Former Prime Minister and PSD leader Pedro Santana Lopes' new party, Alliance, failed to win a single seat and polled below 1 percent of the votes.

The turnout in this election was the lowest ever in a general election in Portugal, with just 48.6 percent of registered voters casting a ballot. In Portugal alone, 54.5 percent of voters cast a ballot, a drop compared with the 57 percent in the 2015 election.

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