João Fernando Cotrim de Figueiredo (born 24 June 1961) is a Portuguese businessman and

Liberal Initiative The Liberal Initiative (, , IL) is a liberal political party in Portugal. Founded in 2017, it is currently led by Miguel Rangel, who is the interim leader since the resignation of Rui Rocha in May 2025. The party has been described as being ...

politician. He was the party's first member of the Assembly of the Republic, for

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, in October 2019. He was the leader of the party between October 2019 and January 2023, during which the party won eight seats in the 2022 election. He was elected 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 ...

in the 2024 European election, and is expected to be sworn-in in the upcoming

Tenth European Parliament The tenth European Parliament was elected during the 2024 European Parliament election, 2024 elections and is slated to remain in session until the forthcoming 2029 elections. Major events * 6–9 June 2024: 2024 European Parliament elect ...

Education and career

Cotrim de Figueiredo grew up in

, where he sold

clothes hanger A clothes hanger, coat hanger, or coathanger, or simply a hanger, is a hanging device in the shape/contour of: * Human shoulders designed to facilitate the hanging of a coat, jacket, sweater, shirt, blouse or dress in a manner that prevents ...

s door-to-door for a company established by his great-grandfather. He attended the

German School Lisbon Deutsche Schule Lissabon (, EAL; German School of Lisbon) is a private German international school situated in the Lumiar district of Lisbon, Portugal. Founded in 1848, the Deutsche Schule Lissabon is the oldest German school in the Iberian Penin ...

before studying Economics at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, and then obtained a Masters in Business Administration from the

NOVA University Lisbon NOVA University Lisbon (, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital city, earning its name as the "N ...

. He worked in executive positions at Compal, Nutricafés, Privado Holding and

TVI TVI may refer to: *RTL-TVI, a French-language television station in Belgium *TVi (channel), a Ukrainian TV-channel *TVi, former name of TV Okey, a Malaysian TV-network * Tamil Vision International, a Tamil language television channel in Toronto, C ...

. In 2015 he was elected vice president of the

European Travel Commission The European Travel Commission (ETC) is an international non-profit association representing the national tourism organizations (NTOs) in Europe and is based in Brussels. It was established in 1948 to promote Europe as a tourist destination to lo ...

, while also being president of the board at Turismo de Portugal.

Politics

In July 2019, Cotrim de Figueiredo was chosen to head the Liberal Initiative's list in

for the October legislative elections. He became the party's only Assembly member, in their first elections. After the resignation of

Carlos Guimarães Pinto Carlos Manuel Guimarães Oliveira Pinto, better known as Carlos Guimarães Pinto (born in Espinho, Portugal, in 1983), is a Portuguese economist, author, university professor, think tank executive, blogger and politician. A prominent member of ...

, Cotrim de Figueiredo ran for leader of the party in December 2019 and was elected with 96% of the votes. In the snap election in January 2022, the Liberal Initiative received 5% of all votes, rising from one seat to eight and forming a parliamentary group. Cotrim de Figueiredo said that the group would be a firm opposition to socialism. On 22 January 2023, Cotrim de Figueiredo was succeeded as leader of the Liberal Initiative by

Rui Rocha Rui Nuno de Oliveira Garcia da Rocha (born 13 March 1970) is a Portuguese politician and member of the Assembly of the Republic who served as President of the Liberal Initiative from 2023 until 2025. Biography Born in Lobito, Portuguese Ango ...

, whom he had endorsed.

Electoral history

IL leadership election, 2019

, - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , João Cotrim de Figueiredo , align=right , 181 , align=right , 95.8 , - , colspan=2 align=left , Blank/Invalid ballots , align=right , 8 , align=right , 4.2 , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , 189 , align=center , , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Results

Legislative election, 2022

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Seats ! align="center" style="width: 50px", +/− , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PS , align=left ,

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 ...

, , 2,302,601 , , 41.4 , , 120 , , style="color:green;", +12 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PSD , align=left ,

Rui Rio Rui Fernando da Silva Rio (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese economist and retired 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 ...

, , 1,618,381 , , 29.1 , , 77 , , style="color:red;", –2 , - , style="background:#202056;", , align="left", Chega , align=left ,

André Ventura André Claro Amaral Ventura (; born 15 January 1983) is a Portuguese far-right politician, former sports pundit and trainee priest, and founder of the right-wing populist political party Chega. He acts as the leader of the opposition since Cheg ...

, , 399,659 , , 7.2 , , 12 , , style="color:green;", +11 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", IL , align=left , João Cotrim Figueiredo , , 273,687, , 4.9 , , 8 , , style="color:green;", +7 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", BE , align=left , Catarina Martins , , 244,603 , , 4.4 , , 5 , , style="color:red;", –14 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDU , align=left ,

Jerónimo de Sousa Jerónimo Carvalho de Sousa (; born 13 April 1947) is a Portuguese politician who served as General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxi ...

, , 238,920 , , 4.3 , , 6 , , style="color:red;", –6 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDS–PP , align=left , Rodrigues dos Santos , , 89,181 , , 1.6 , , 0 , , style="color:red;", –5 , - , style="background:teal;", , align="left", PAN , align=left ,

Inês Sousa Real Paula Inês Alves de Sousa Real (born 6 June 1980) is a Portuguese jurist and politician who is currently president of the People Animals Nature parliamentary group in the Assembly of the Republic. At the PAN convention on 6 June 2021, she was el ...

, , 88,152 , , 1.6 , , 1 , , style="color:red;", –3 , - , style="background:;", , align="left",

Livre Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Fre ...

, align=left , Rui Tavares , , 71,232 , , 1.3 , , 1 , , ±0 , - , style="background:white;", , colspan="2" align="left", Other parties , 91,299 , , 1.6 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , colspan="3" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 146,824 , , 2.6 , , – , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="3" align="left", Turnout , 5,564,539 , , 51.46 , , 230 , , ±0 , - , colspan="7" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

European Parliament election, 2024

Marta Temido Marta Alexandra Fartura Braga Temido de Almeida Simões (born 2 March 1974) is a Portuguese politician who served as Minister of Health under Prime Minister António Costa, between 15 October 2018 and 10 September 2022. She submitted her resignati ...

, , 1,268,915 , , 32.1 , , 8 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", AD , align=left , Sebastião Bugalho , , 1,229,895 , , 31.1 , , 7 , , ±0 , - , style="background:#202056;", , align="left", Chega , align=left , António Tânger Corrêa , , 387,068 , , 9.8 , , 2 , , style="color:green;", +2 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", IL , align=left , João Cotrim de Figueiredo , , 358,811 , , 9.1 , , 2 , , style="color:green;", +2 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", BE , align=left , Catarina Martins , , 168,107 , , 4.3 , , 1 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDU , align=left , João Oliveira , , 162,630 , , 4.1 , , 1 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left",

, align=left , Francisco Paupério , , 148,572 , , 3.8 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , style="background:#1D4E89;", , align="left", ADN , align=left , Joana Amaral Dias , , 54,120 , , 1.4 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , style="background:teal;", , align="left", PAN , align=left , Pedro Fidalgo Marques , , 48,006 , , 1.2 , , 0 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , style="background:white;", , colspan="2" align="left", Other parties , 48,647 , , 1.2 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , colspan="3" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 77,208 , , 2.0 , , – , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="3" align="left", Turnout , 3,951,979 , , 36.63 , , 21 , , ±0 , - , colspan="7" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

References

External links

João Cotrim de Figueiredo
at Assembly of the Republic (in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotrim de Figueiredo, Joao 1961 births Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics NOVA University Lisbon alumni 20th-century Portuguese economists Businesspeople from Lisbon Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Liberal Initiative people 21st-century Portuguese economists MEPs for Portugal 2024–2029