Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Portugal in January 2026. The elections will elect the successor to President

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the List of presidents of Portugal, 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democrati ...

, who is barred from running for a third term.

Background and election procedure

was re-elected in January 2021 with almost 61 percent of the votes on the first round. He took the oath of office on 9 March 2021, and continued the

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

with

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

Prime Minister

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician serving as the 119th and current prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and ...

that lasted until April 2024. This cohabitation ended after the March 2024 elections which resulted in the nomination of

Luís Montenegro Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born 16 February 1973) is a Portuguese politician who is the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from the Aveiro District from 2002 ...

, from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, also the party of the President, as Prime Minister. In Portugal, the president is the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and has mostly ceremonial powers; however, the president has some political influence and can dissolve the

Parliament of Portugal The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: ''Assembleia da República'', ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (Portuguese: ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament ...

if a crisis occurs. The president also has an

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

in the

Belém Palace The Belém Palace ( pt, Palácio de Belém), formally the National Palace of Belém, ( pt, Palácio Nacional de Belém), is the current official residence of the President of the Portuguese Republic, the head of state of Portugal. Located in the ...

in Lisbon. To stand for election, candidates for the presidency each have to gather 7,500 signatures of support one month before the election, and submit them to the

Constitutional Court of Portugal The Constitutional Court ( pt, Tribunal Constitucional, ) is a special court, defined by the Portuguese Constitution as part of the judicial branch of the Portugal, Portuguese political organization. Unlike the rest of the country's courts, the ...

. Then, the Constitutional Court has to certify if the candidacies submitted meet the requirements to appear on the ballot. The highest number of candidacies ever accepted was ten, in 2016. Under Portuguese law, a candidate must receive a majority of votes (50% plus one vote) to be elected. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round, a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

(i.e., second round, held between the two candidates who receive the most votes in the first round) has to be held.

Candidates

Declared

Independent

Tim Vieira Timothy Alexander Vieira (born 18 July 1975) is a Portuguese businessman. Born in South Africa, he worked in Angola before relocating to Portugal in 2009. He became an investor on the television programme ''Shark Tank'' in 2015. Biography Vieira w ...

–

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

Publicly expressed interest

Socialist Party

* Alexandra Leitão – incumbent

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS) since 2024; former minister for the Modernization of the State and Public Administration (2019–2022) *

Augusto Santos Silva Augusto Ernesto dos Santos Silva (born 20 August 1956) is a Portuguese sociology, sociologist, university professor, and politician who has been the President of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal), Assembly of the Republic since 2022, in th ...

– former President of the Assembly of the Republic (2022–2024); minister in the 14th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd governments File:Alexandra Leitão - Conferência 'Anti-Corrupção e Boa Governação, o que falta fazer em Portugal' 2022-12-09 (cropped).png, alt=, File:Informal meeting of ministers for foreign affairs (Gymnich). Arrivals Augusto Santos Silva (36284887033) (cropped).jpg, alt=President of the Assembly of the RepublicAugusto Santos Silva,

Social Democratic Party

Luís Marques Mendes Luís Manuel Gonçalves Marques Mendes, GCIH (born 5 September 1957, in Guimarães, Azurém) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, and a former Leader of the Social Democratic Party. Background He is a son of António Marques Mendes and wife Ma ...

– former

(PSD) leader (2005–2007)“Exclusivo Palácio de Belém, 2026. Os possíveis inquilinos que se seguem”
Diário de Notícias (October 25, 2020). File:EPP Summit 21 June 2007 - European People's Party (cropped).png,

CHEGA

André Ventura André Claro Amaral Ventura (; born 15 January 1983) is a right-wing Portuguese politician and former sports pundit. He briefly worked as a senior civil servant at the Portuguese tax office. He founded the Chega party in April 2019, and was ...

– incumbent leader of CHEGA (since 2019); presidential candidate in the previous election File:André Ventura VIVA 24.jpg,

Independent

* José Castelo Branco –

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

Pedro Santana Lopes Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes GCC (; born 29 June 1956) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, who is the current president of the Municipal Chamber of Figueira da Foz. He most notably served as prime minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005 ...

– incumbent mayor of

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, west ...

since 2021 (also in 1998–2002); former prime minister (2004–2005); former

(PSD) leader (2004–2005) ''(decision expected in mid 2024)'' File:José Castelo Branco MalucoBeleza (cropped).png, File:Pedro Santana Lopes 01.jpg,

Potential

Socialist Party

Ana Gomes Ana Maria Rosa Martins Gomes (born 9 February 1954), better known as Ana Gomes, is a Portuguese former diplomat and politician of the Socialist Party (PS). She earned wide recognition for her role in negotiating independence for East Timor, a ...

– former MEP of the

(PS) (2014–2019); finished in second place in the previous presidential election *

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

–

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

since 2017; former prime minister (1995–2002); former secretary-general of the

(PS) (1992–2002) *

António José Seguro António José Martins Seguro (born 11 March 1962) is a Portuguese politician for the Socialist Party (PS). Seguro was Secretary General of the PS from 2011 until September 2014, and he was the leader of the largest opposition party in the Port ...

– former secretary-general of the

(PS) (2011–2014) *

Fernando Medina Fernando Medina Maciel Almeida Correia (born 10 March 1973) is a Portuguese economist and politician Socialist Party (PS) who has been serving as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister António Costa since 2022. He previously ser ...

– former

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(2022–2024); former

mayor of Lisbon This is a list of mayors of Lisbon ( pt, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, CML, literally: "President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon", and also pt, Presidente do Município de Lisboa, literally: "President of the Municipality of Lisb ...

(2015–2021) *

Francisco Assis Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda (born 8 January 1965, in Amarante) is a Portuguese politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Socialist Party; part of the Party of European Socialists from 2004 to 2009, ...

– incumbent

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

since 2024 (also in 1995–2004 and 2009—2014); former MEP of the

(PS) (2004–2009; 2014–2019); former mayor of Amarante (1990–1995) File:Ana Gomes.jpg, alt=, File:António Guterres, 23.03.23.jpg, File:António José Seguro, Europeias 2014 (cropped).png, alt=, File:(Fernando Medina) Web Summit 2018 - Media PMM 9339 (30136649707) (cropped).jpg, alt=, File:FranciscoAssis.png, alt=,

Social Democratic Party

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the 118th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 2015. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) b ...

– former prime minister (2011–2015); former

(PSD) leader (2010–2018) *

Rui Rio Rui Fernando da Silva Rio (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was the Mayor of Porto from 2002 to 2013. Between 2018 and 2022, he was President of the PSD and Leader of the Opp ...

– former

(PSD) leader (2018–2022), former mayor of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

(2002–2013) File:Pedro Passos Coelho 2014 (cropped).jpg, File:EPP Summit, 22 March 2018 (27083908678) (cropped, Rui Rio).jpg,

Left Bloc

Catarina Martins Catarina Soares Martins (born 7 September 1973) is a Portuguese politician and actress. She is the national coordinator of the Left Bloc since 2012 and has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic for the Left Bloc since 2009. She traine ...

– former leader of the

Left Bloc Left Bloc may refer to: * Left Bloc (Portugal), a political party in Portugal * Left Bloc (Croatia), a political alliance in Croatia * Left Bloc (Hungary) The Left Bloc (in Hungarian: ''Baloldali Blokk'') was a political alliance in Hungary, f ...

(2012–2023) *

Francisco Louçã Francisco Anacleto Louçã (; born 12 November 1956 in Lisbon) is a Portugal, Portuguese economist and politician. Biography He is the second son of António Seixas Louçã, a Portuguese Navy officer (armed forces), Officer, and his wife Noémia ...

– former leader of the

(BE) (1999–2012); candidate for the 2006 presidential election * Mariana Mortágua –

(BE) leader since 2023 File:Catarina Martins, tempo de antena sobre a escola pública, Legislativas 2022 (cropped).png, File:Francisco Louçã 2015 (cropped).jpg, File:Mariana Mortágua, tempo de antena sobre justiça fiscal, Legislativas 2022.png,

Liberal Initiative

João Cotrim de Figueiredo João Fernando Cotrim de Figueiredo (born 24 June 1961) is a Portuguese businessman and Liberal Initiative (Portugal), Liberal Initiative politician. He was the party's first member of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal), Assembly of the Repub ...

– former leader of the

Liberal Initiative The Liberal Initiative ( pt, Iniciativa Liberal, , IL) is a liberal political party in Portugal currently led by João Cotrim de Figueiredo. In 2019, its debut year at the Portuguese legislative elections, the party won one seat in the Portugu ...

(IL) (2019–2023) * Tiago Mayan – incumbent President of the Parish of

Aldoar, Foz do Douro e Nevogilde Aldoar, Foz do Douro e Nevogilde is a civil parish in the municipality of Porto, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the former parishes Aldoar, Foz do Douro Foz do Douro (; meaning "Mouth of the Douro") is a former civil parish in th ...

since 2021; presidential candidate in the previous election File:JoaoCotrimFigueiredo.png,

Portuguese Communist Party

* João Ferreira – former MEP of the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portugue ...

(PCP) (2009–2021); presidential candidate in the previous election *

Paulo Raimundo Paulo Alexandre Raimundo (born 1976) is a Portugal, Portuguese politician who has served as General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party since the party's National Conference in November 2022. References

Portuguese Communist Pa ...

– incumbent secretary-general of the

(PCP) (since 2022) File:Photo action to mark Migrants International Day (João Ferreira) (cropped2).jpg, File:Paulo Raimundo (Agência Lusa 2023-10-18) (cropped).png,

CDS - People's Party

Paulo Portas Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962, ) is a Portuguese media and political figure, who has, since the 1990s, been one of Portugal's leading conservative politicians. He was the leader of one of Portugal's right-wing parties, t ...

– former leader of

CDS - People's Party The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

(CDS-PP) (1998–2005, 2007–2016); deputy prime minister (2013–2015) and minister in the 15th, 16th, 19th and 20th governments *

Cecília Meireles Cecília Benevides de Carvalho Meireles (7 November 1901 – 9 November 1964) was a Brazilian writer and educator, known principally as a poet. She is a canonical name of Brazilian Modernism, one of the great female poets in the Portuguese l ...

– former member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and former Secretary of State for Tourism File:P Portas 2009 (cropped).png,

Independent

* António Sampaio da Nóvoa – former Rector of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

(2006–2013); finished in second place in the 2016 presidential election *

José Sócrates José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (born 6 September 1957), commonly known as José Sócrates (), is a Portuguese politician who was the prime minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011. For the second half of 2007, he ...

– former prime minister (2005–2011); former secretary-general of the

(PS) (2004–2011) *

Mário Centeno Mário José Gomes de Freitas Centeno (born 9 December 1966) is a Portuguese economist, university professor, and politician. From 2015 to 2020, he was Minister of Finance of Portugal in the government cabinet of Prime Minister António Costa o ...

– incumbent governor of the

Bank of Portugal The Banco de Portugal (English: Bank of Portugal) is the central bank of the Portuguese Republic. The bank was founded by royal charter in 1846, during the reign of Queen Maria II of Portugal, by a merger of the '' Banco de Lisboa'' (Bank of Lis ...

(since 2020); former

President of the Eurogroup The Eurogroup is the recognised collective term for the informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone—those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency. The group has 19 member ...

(2018–2020); former

(2015–2020) * Rui Moreira – incumbent mayor of

since 2013 File:António Nóvoa 06-05-2013.jpg, File:Socrates2006-2t.jpg, File:Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers (ECOFIN). Handshake, Eurogroup Toomas Tõniste and Mário Centeno (37238535645) (cropped).jpg, File:Rui Moreira.png, , alt=Porto MayorRui Moreira

Declined

– former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

(2015–2024); former secretary-general of the

(PS) (2014–2024) *

António Vitorino António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino (12 January 1957 in Lisbon; ) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician of the Socialist Party (PS). Career Career in national politics Vitorino graduated in law from the University of Lisbon. A lawyer ...

– former Minister of the Presidency and

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

(1995–1997) * Henrique Gouveia e Melo – chief of the Naval Staff since 2021; former coordinator of the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan Task Force (2021); former commander of the

European Maritime Force The European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR or EMF) is a non-standing,Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...

officer * José Durão Barroso – former

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

(2004–2014); former prime minister (2002–2004); former

(PSD) leader (1998–2004)

Opinion polling

First round

Graphic summary

Polling

Preferred candidate

Poll results showing public opinion on who would be the best candidate for each political side, are shown in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first.

Center-right/Right

Center-left/Left

Approval ratings

Graphical summary

Polling

The table below lists the evolution of public opinion on the President's performance in office.

Notes

References

External links

Official results site, Portuguese Justice Ministry

Portuguese Electoral Commission

ERC – Official publication of polls
{{Portuguese elections Presidential elections in Portugal

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Background and election procedure

Candidates

Declared

Independent

Publicly expressed interest

Socialist Party

Social Democratic Party

CHEGA

Independent

Potential

Socialist Party

Social Democratic Party

Left Bloc

Liberal Initiative

Portuguese Communist Party

CDS - People's Party

Independent

Declined

Opinion polling

First round

Graphic summary

Polling

Preferred candidate

Center-right/Right

Center-left/Left

Approval ratings

Graphical summary

Polling

See also

Notes

References

External links