José Luís Pereira Carneiro (born 4 October 1971) is a Portuguese politician from 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 ...

and, after 28 June 2025, will be the Socialist Party's Secretary-General.

Political career

Carneiro served as Minister of Internal Administration in the

XXIII Constitutional Government of Portugal The XXIII Constitutional Government of Portugal () was the 23rd government of the Third Portuguese Republic under the Constitution of Portugal#Constitution of 1976, current Constitution, and had António Costa as the Prime Minister of Portugal, ...

from 2022 to 2024. Polling in 2023 found him to be the most popular minister in the government of

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 ...

. Following Costa's resignation as the

prime minister of Portugal The prime minister of Portugal (; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to Ass ...

, Carneiro was a candidate for the leadership of the Socialist Party. On 16 December of the same year, he lost against

Pedro Nuno Santos Pedro Nuno de Oliveira Santos (born 13 April 1977) is a Portuguese economist and politician, who has served as the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (Portugal), Socialist Party from January 2024 to May 2025. Santos previously held positi ...

in an internal vote. He was the lead candidate in

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

for the

2025 Portuguese legislative election A Snap election, snap legislative election took place in Portugal on 18 May 2025 to elect members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal), Assembly of the Republic for the 17th Legislature. All 230 seats to the Assembly of the Republic were u ...

. Carneiro was reportedly a possible contender for the

2026 Portuguese presidential election Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Portugal on 18 or 25 January 2026, with a possible second round on 8 or 15 February 2026. The election will elect the successor to the incumbent President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (President since ...

, but he declined to be a candidate. After the Socialists' weak results in the 18 May 2025 legislative election, where the party fell to thrid place in terms of seats, behind the far-right party Chega, a leadership ballot was called for 27 and 28 June 2025. Carneiro announced his candidacy and will be the only candidate on the ballot, making him the next PS

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

References

1971 births Government ministers of Portugal Living people Lusíada University of Porto alumni Members of the 10th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 13th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 14th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 15th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 16th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians {{Portugal-politician-stub