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

Portuguese Parliament The Assembly of the Republic (, ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament "is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens". Th ...

. He is a candidate for the 2026 presidential election.

Early life and education

Seguro was born on 11 March 1962 in

Penamacor Penamacor ( or ) is a municipality in the district of Castelo Branco in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,682, in an area of . The mayor is António Luís Beites Soares. The municipal holiday is Easter Monday. History Penamacor's histo ...

. He entered politics at a very young age and became a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) as a youth. He attended the 1st cycle program in business organization and management at the ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, but he did not graduate. Seguro has a degree in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

awarded later by the Autonomous University of Lisbon.

Career

Seguro became involved in political activities from a very young age, always linked to the

(PS). He was successively secretary general of Socialist Youth, president of the National Youth Council and chairman of the Youth Forum of the European Communities. He was first elected to the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, the Socialist Party won the parliamentary elections, leaving the leader

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

to form a government. Seguro initially was Secretary of State for Youth and, starting in 1997, Secretary of State Adjunct to the Prime Minister. He also played the role of coordinator of the Standing Committee of the Portuguese Socialist Party and president of the Municipal Assembly of

. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Seguro was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

, being the second name in a list led by former President

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

. He served as an MEP between July 1999 and July 2001, being an effective member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (in these functions he was co-author of the Report on the

Treaty of Nice The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty (or the Treaty on European Union) and the Treaty of Rome (or the Treaty establishing the European C ...

and the Future of the European Union) and a substitute for the Commission for Employment and Social Affairs. He was also president of the Delegation for Relations with Central America and Mexico, vice president of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and president of the Portuguese Socialist delegation. Seguro resigned as an MEP in 2001 to serve as Minister Adjunct to the Prime Minister, again under

. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, he returned to the Assembly of the Republic, serving as the Socialist

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 legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

from 2004 to 2005. He was also appointed member of the National Secretariat of the Socialist Party. He accumulated these positions with membership in the Municipal Assembly of Gouveia after being elected in the 2001 local elections. After Ferro Rodrigues' resignation as Secretary-general of PS in 2004, he was considered as a potential candidate for the

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a ...

, but he was convinced by Jorge Coelho not to run since it was "not his time". He opposed the leadership of

José Sócrates José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa (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 acted ...

in several moments, breaking party discipline to vote against the party finances law, oppose

consumption tax A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on Consumption (economics), consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added ta ...

increases and defending a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all EU member states o ...

Secretary–general of the Socialist Party (2011–2014)

After Prime Minister

resigned as PS General Secretary on the election night of 5 June 2011, having lost the general election by a margin higher than expected, Seguro was elected leader of the party on 23 July 2011, winning 68% of the vote against his challenger, Francisco Assis, who got 32%. As Secretary-general, Seguro decided to abstain in the 2012 State Budget proposed by the Passos Coelho government, citing his decision as a "violent, but constructive abstention", a decision that ended up attracting criticism from inside the PS. The Socialist Party managed to achieve one of its best results ever in the 2013 local elections and won the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

with Francisco Assis as the main candidate, although by a narrow margin, which motivated the Mayor of Lisbon

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who has served as President of the European Council since 2024. He previously served as the 118th prime minister of Portugal from 2015 to 2024 and th ...

to run for the party leadership. The party decided to organize

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

open to the party's supporters in 2014, in which Costa defeated Seguro by a landslide. Seguro resigned from the leadership the same day, leaving Costa as Secretary-general.

2026 presidential campaign

In October 2024, PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos mentioned Seguro as a potential candidate for president from the Socialist Party in the 2026 presidential election. In November 2024, after being mostly out of the spotlight since 2014, Seguro gave an interview to

CNN Portugal Cable News Network Portugal, also known as CNN Portugal and abbreviated as CNN PT, is a Portugal, Portuguese cable television, basic cable and satellite television news television channel, channel owned by Media Capital. It was launched on 26 Feb ...

as he was starting a role as a

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

on the channel, stating that he was interested in running for President. Seguro then positioned himself as the main candidate from the party in opposition to others like Mário Centeno, António Vitorino and

Augusto Santos Silva Augusto Ernesto dos Santos Silva (born 20 August 1956) is a Portuguese sociologist, university professor, and politician who served as the President of the Assembly of the Republic between 2022 and 2024, in the 15th Legislature. From Novem ...

. He also founded the movement UPortugal, with the intention of promoting a greater participation from the citizens and fighting

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

. In June 2026, he announced he was running for President, stating that "the country needs change and hope in a better life", defining his candidacy as a progressive alternative to the other

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidates, such as Luís Marques Mendes and Henrique Gouveia e Melo. He launched his campaign on 15 June 2025, in

Caldas da Rainha Caldas da Rainha () is a medium-sized Portugal, Portuguese city in the Oeste Subregion, Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura Province (1936–1976), Estremadura, and in the Leiria District, district of Leiria. The city serves a ...

, with the presence of high PS personalities like Francisco Assis, Alberto Martins, Maria de Belém Roseira, João Soares and Álvaro Beleza, saying that, after leaving politics at a time when he could divide the party, he was now returning with the intention to unite the country.

Electoral history

Legislative elections

European Parliament elections

PS leadership election, 2011

, - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , style="background:#f6f;", , align=left , António José Seguro , align=right , 23,903 , align=right , 68.0 , - , style="background:#f6f;", , align=left , Francisco Assis , align=right , 11,257 , align=right , 32.0 , - , colspan=2 align=left , Blank/Invalid ballots , align=right , 367 , align=right , – , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , 35,527 , align=right , , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Diretas 2011

PS leadership election, 2013

, - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , style="background:#f6f;", , align=left , António José Seguro , align=right , 24,843 , align=right , 96.5 , - , style="background:#f6f;", , align=left , Aires Pedro , align=right , 892 , align=right , 3.5 , - , colspan=2 align=left , Blank/Invalid ballots , align=right , 990 , align=right , – , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , 26,725 , align=right , 62.10 , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Diretas 2013

PS Primary election, 2014

, align=right , 120,188 , align=right , 67.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , António José Seguro , align=right , 55,928 , align=right , 31.5 , - , colspan=2 align=left , Blank/Invalid ballots , align=right , 1,234 , align=right , 0.7 , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , 177,350 , align=right , 70.71 , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Resultados

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seguro, Antonio Jose 1962 births Living people People from Penamacor Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians Government ministers of Portugal Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) MEPs for Portugal 1999–2004 Socialist Party (Portugal) MEPs Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa alumni