According to the provisional results from the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Internal Administration, the “Sempre com os Sintrenses” coalition, composed of PSD/IL/PAN, secured 55,052 votes (33.86%) in Sunday’s municipal elections, compared to 35,702 votes (27.53%) in 2021 by candidate Marco Almeida from PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PDR/PPM/RIR, who also elected four councilors.
The former vice-president of the municipality, running for a third time in the Lisbon district’s mayoral race, having initially run as an independent against the PSD, gained 19,350 more votes compared to the previous election, where he lost to Basílio Horta (PS).
Besides Marco Almeida, Andreia Bernardo, Eunice Baeta, and Francisco Duarte were also elected, with the list receiving 3,551 more votes than Ana Mendes Godinho’s candidacy, who headed the PS/Livre coalition with support from Volt Portugal.
The former socialist minister garnered 51,501 votes (31.67%), which is 5,777 more than what the socialists obtained independently in 2021, with 45,724 votes (35.25%), maintaining four seats in the executive, followed by Bruno Parreira, the current vice-president, Filomena Pereira, and Eduardo Quinta Nova.
Chega maintained third place, increasing their vote count to 38,020 (23.38%) from 11,786 (9.09%), growing from one councilor – who later became independent – to three elected officials, despite achieving a much lower vote count than projected in pre-election polls and recent legislative results, where it was the most voted party in the municipality.
The far-right populist party elected MP Rita Matias, municipal deputy Anabela Guiomar Macedo, and consultant Ricardo Aragão Pinto.
The night’s major loss came for the CDU (a coalition of PCP/PEV), which only secured 7,537 votes (4.64%), significantly lower than the 11,701 votes (9.02%) in the previous poll, preventing the re-election of councilor Pedro Ventura.
CDU’s voter base has been diminishing since the historic results of the United People’s Electoral Front and the United People’s Alliance (APU), with candidate Lino Paulo in 1985 coming within about 700 votes of Tavares de Carvalho (PSD), both securing four councilors. This number of elected officials persisted through four terms (1982 to 1993).
In 1997, losses began, dropping to three councilors and then two, with only one being elected since 2005. Even Pedro Ventura’s municipal experience, having undertaken roles in previous terms across Markets, Municipal Water and Sanitation Services, and currently in City Intervention and Urban Rehabilitation, did not prevent the loss of 4,164 votes in this election.
The CDS-PP, aligned with PPM and ADN following Marco Almeida’s negotiations with IL, only amassed 3,434 votes (2.11%), while BE secured 2,643 votes (1.63%), far below their already modest previous tally of 7,539 votes (5.81%). The New Right garnered only 736 votes (0.45%).
The PS/Livre slate introduced former Lisbon Mayor and Minister João Soares for the municipal assembly, once a tourism councilor under Fernando Seara, a social democrat who also ran for the municipal deliberative body under PSD/IL/PAN, emerging victorious again.
The “Sempre com os Sintrenses” coalition won 11 municipal deputies, equal to PS/Livre, with Chega securing nine, the CDU two, and BE failing to elect anyone, having held two seats in the concluding term.
Across the 15 parishes of the municipality, PSD/IL/PAN won in nine, while PS and Livre emerged victorious in six.
On Sunday, Marco Almeida stated he would work based on qualifications, indicating his red line would be “with incompetence” rather than parties.
