2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election explained

The 2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 27 November.^[1] If no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the first round, a second round would be held between the two most voted candidates in the first round on 1 December, however, as only two candidates will be on the ballot, a second round will not be necessary. The original date for the first round was 4 December, but the party decided to advance the date by a week. Nearly 47,000 party members, out of more than 85,000 active members, were registered to vote.^[2]

One issue identified during the campaign was the rise of the far-right Chega!. Though neither candidate said they would invite the party into government, Rio signalled he would be open to negotiating with them on a case-by-case basis,^[3] while Rangel ruled this out, saying he would only negotiate with CDS – People's Party and Liberal Initiative.^[4]

Rui Rio defeated Paulo Rangel by a 52.4% to 47.6% margin and was reelected for a 3rd term as party leader.^[5] He led the party into the 2022 snap general elections, which he lost, losing 2 seats in the Assembly of the Republic and that resulted in an absolute majority to the Socialist Party.

Candidates

Name	Born	Experience	Announcement date	Ref.
Paulo Rangel	(age 53) Vila Nova de Gaia	Member of the European Parliament (2009–2024) Leader of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Caucus (2008–2009) Member of Parliament for Porto (2005–2009)	15 October 2021	[6]
Rui Rio	(age 64) Porto	President of the Social Democratic Party (2018–2022) Leader of the Opposition (2018–2022) Member of Parliament for Porto (2019–2022) Mayor of Porto (2001–2013) Member of Parliament for Porto (1991–2002)	19 October 2021	[7]

Withdrew

• Nuno Miguel Henriques, councillor in Alenquer (2021–present) and failed candidate for the PSD leadership in 2012;^[8]

Declined

• Pedro Passos Coelho, former Prime Minister (2011-2015) and PSD leader (2010-2018);^[9]
• Luís Montenegro, former PSD caucus leader and candidate for the party's leadership in 2020;^{[10] [11]}
• Miguel Pinto Luz, Deputy mayor of Cascais and candidate for the party's leadership in 2020;^{[12] [13]}
• Miguel Poiares Maduro, former Minister for Regional Development (2013-2015);^[14]
• Jorge Moreira da Silva, former Environment Minister (2013-2015);^{[15] [16]}

Opinion polls

All voters

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Others /Undecided	Lead
			Rui Rio	Paulo Rangel
Intercampus	data-sort-value="2019-10-03"	5–11 Nov 2021	612		49.3	34.3	16.3	15
CESOP–UCP	29 Oct–4 Nov 2021	878		43	32	25	11
Aximage	28–31 Oct 2021	803		38	31	31	7

PSD voters

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Others /Undecided	Lead
			Rui Rio	Paulo Rangel
Pitagórica	data-sort-value="2019-10-03"	10–15 Nov 2021	?		58	27	15	31
CESOP–UCP	29 Oct–4 Nov 2021	?		48	41	11	7
Aximage	28–31 Oct 2021	?		54	37	9	17

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Rui Rio	Luís Montenegro	Miguel Pinto Luz	Paulo Rangel	Pedro Passos Coelho	Miguel Poiares Maduro	Jorge Moreira da Silva	Pedro Duarte	Others /Undecided	Lead
Intercampus	14–23 Sep 2021	609		15.8	3.0		34.3	27.8		5.4	3.6	10.2	6.5
Intercampus	13–20 Aug 2021	612	8.8	10.3			17.3	16.5	7.8			39.2	0.8

Results

Summary of the November 2021 PSD leadership election results

Candidate		27 November 2021
		Votes	%
	Rui Rio	18,852	52.43
	Paulo Rangel	17,106	47.57
Total		35,958
Valid votes		35,958	98.58
Invalid and blank ballots		518	1.42
Votes cast / turnout		36,476	78.17
Registered voters		46,664
Sources: Official results

Results by party federation

The following table shows a breakdown of the results of the election by party federation, which are mostly equal to the electoral circles.^[17]

Federation! colspan="2"

Rui Rio	Paulo Rangel		Invalidballots	Votes cast	Registered
Votes	%	Votes	%
Algarve		511		53.56	443	46.44	18	972	1,354
Aveiro		2,301		61.16	1,401	37.84	85	3,787	4,575
Baixo Alentejo	109	38.38		175		61.62	1	285	337
Braga		2,615		52.31	2,384	47.69	78	5,077	6,419
Bragança		664		62.11	405	37.89	9	1,078	1,321
Castelo Branco	280	47.22		313		52.78	13	606	820
Coimbra	632	46.13		738		53.87	26	1,396	1,838
Évora		208		52.53	188	47.47	5	401	514
Guarda	417	35.82		747		64.18	9	1,173	1,420
Leiria		705		54.06	599	45.94	14	1,318	1,990
Lisbon: Urban Area	1,703	40.30		2,523		59.70	64	4,290	6,033
Lisbon: Oeste	130	45.61		155		54.39	4	289	385
Portalegre	106	48.62		112		51.38	5	223	285
Porto		3,821		59.32	2,620	40.68	69	6,510	7,930
Santarém		574		54.56	478	45.44	18	1,070	1,403
Setúbal	371	36.05		658		63.95	14	1,043	1,300
Viana do Castelo		616		57.95	447	42.05	15	1,078	1,259
Vila Real	543	37.68		898		62.32	22	1,463	1,814
Viseu		835		54.61	694	45.39	22	1,551	1,882
Azores		485		77.60	140	22.40	11	636	796
Madeira		1,183		57.01	892	42.99	14	2,089	2,797
Europe	36	35.29		66		64.71	2	104	150
Outside of Europe	7	18.92		30		81.08	0	37	42

See also

• Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal

External links

• PSD Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Aprovada proposta de Rangel: diretas do PSD marcadas para dia 27 de novembro. Jornal de Notícias. 6 November 2021. 6 November 2021.
2. Web site: Mais de 46 mil militantes do PSD vão poder votar nas eleições diretas. Jornal i. 19 November 2021. 21 November 2021.
3. Web site: Rio prevê eleições antecipadas e recusa governar com o Chega.
4. Web site: Rangel diz que "não compete" ao PSD aprovar o Orçamento e descarta crise política.
5. Web site: Oficial. Rui Rio reeleito presidente do partido com 52,43%. Not´cias ao Minuto. 27 November 2021. 27 November 2021.
6. Web site: Rangel anuncia que é candidato à liderança do PSD. Público. 15 October 2021. 15 October 2021.
7. Web site: Rui Rio recandidata-se à liderança do PSD. Rádio Renascença. 19 October 2021. 19 October 2021.
8. Web site: Nuno Miguel Henriques desiste da corrida à liderança do PSD "a bem do partido e do país" . Diário de Notícias. 22 November 2021. 22 November 2021.
9. Web site: Passos indisponível para corrida à liderança do PSD . Expresso. 27 May 2021. 31 August 2021.
10. Web site: Rangel e Montenegro aproveitam autárquicas para marcar terreno. Público. 13 August 2021. 31 August 2021.
11. Web site: Luís Montenegro: "Não tenciono protagonizar nenhuma candidatura" ao PSD. Diário de Notícias. 3 October 2021. 12 October 2021.
12. Web site: Pinto Luz: Direita está órfã de Passos Coelho e PSD é "clone" do PS. Jornal de Notícias. 25 May 2021. 31 August 2021.
13. Web site: Miguel Pinto Luz não irá avançar com uma candidatura ao PSD, diz Carlos Carreiras. TVI24. 27 September 2021. 12 October 2021.
14. Web site: Poiares Maduro. "De pouco nos serve esta estabilidade política". Jornal i. 22 February 2021. 31 August 2021.
15. Web site: Jorge Moreira da Silva fora da corrida ao PSD. Observador. 19 October 2021. 19 October 2021.
16. Web site: Moreira da Silva pode entrar na corrida ao PSD com Rio e Rangel. Jornal de Notícias. 4 October 2021. 12 October 2021.
17. Web site: Resultados PSD . 2024-09-10 . resultados.psd.pt.