The party of the Prime Minister, António Costa, the Socialist Party (PS), won in 147 municipalities (34.42 percent) and was the most voted for party of all local authorities, followed by PSD with 13.3 percent and 71 councils.

The PPD/PSD and CDS-PP coalition were the next most successful with 10.66 percent of the country and 29 mayors, followed by the PCP-PEC coalition which gained 8.22 percent with 19 municipalities, as well as the Grupo Cidadãos which won 5.54 percent of the votes, achieving 19 municipalities.

Despite the great victory of the PS party, which finished head and shoulders above its nearest opponent (PSD), PS did not have the victory it was expecting, as it lost the most important chamber in an unexpected turnaround in Lisbon, in which the PSD (Social Democratic Party), led by Carlos Moedas, won.

On 26 September, António Costa, expressed his sadness with the "unexpected defeat" of the socialist candidate for Lisbon, Fernando Medina. Also in Coimbra, a re-candidacy of Manuel Machado didn’t get enough votes to continue running from the Chamber of Coimbra.

In relation to the other parties, Chega failed to appoint any mayors in these elections, but it did gain some councillors, with a total of 4.17 percent of the votes. In addition, the parties that also have managed to elect councillors were: Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) with 2.76 percent of the votes; and the CDS-PP with 1.46 percent.

In this elections, BE didn’t increase its municipal representation and, on the contrary, had a big loss of votes and councillors, but managed to remain in the Lisbon and Porto Chambers.

According to Lusa News Agency statistics (available on the EyeData portal), the municipalities where BE gained the best results in Sunday's elections are characterised by having more foreign residents, single-parent families and greater income inequalities than the national average.

On the other hand, Chega obtained the best results in counties characterised by having purchasing power above the national average, as well as more crime recorded by the police when compared to other counties.

The Liberal Initiative (IL) obtained 63,000 votes (1.29 percent) in the municipalities in which it ran alone.

During the election night, the president of IL, João Cotrim Figueiredo, said that the party, which was founded in 2017, “did not win these elections”, however, it is growing.

“The future is liberal. I am sure (...) that the future will be liberal. Now let's prepare the party for the next battles”, he stressed.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins