In the aftermath of the early legislative elections on Sunday, which saw a decisive victory for AD, a significant impact was felt within the PS. In a speech acknowledging the defeat, Pedro Nuno Santos, the party leader, revealed his request for the president of the party to convene the National Commission on Saturday to initiate internal elections, in which he will not be seeking re-election.
Preliminary results, excluding votes from overseas, indicate that the PS lost 20 parliamentary seats, securing 58 seats with 23.38% of the vote, translating to 1,394,491 votes.
This outcome places the PS nearly tied with Chega, marking a loss of approximately 365,000 votes compared to the previous year, also excluding overseas votes.
In terms of percentage, this is the third-worst result in the history of the PS, with only 1985 under Almeida Santos and 1987 under Vítor Constâncio being worse.
In his concession speech, the PS leader took responsibility for the results, stating he would step down as secretary-general as soon as possible and does not wish to impede the decisions the PS needs to make.
“But as Mário Soares said, only those who give up fighting are defeated, and I will not stop fighting. See you soon. Thank you all,” he emphasized.
Throughout the campaign, Pedro Nuno Santos had confidently projected a victory for the PS and a defeat for the AD and the unfavorable polls.
However, the final results marked a significant defeat for the PS, with them coming in first place in only one electoral district: Évora.
Despite this outcome, the PS remained the only party to secure elected representatives in every national electoral district, while Chega failed in Bragança and the AD in Portalegre.
Compared to last year’s elections, also led by Pedro Nuno Santos, the socialists lost first place in seven districts where they had previously won in 2024: Lisbon, Setúbal, Portalegre, Beja, Santarém, Coimbra, and Castelo Branco.
In Lisbon, the PS fell from being the most-voted party to second place, losing three parliamentary seats, and in Setúbal, they lost two seats, falling behind Chega.
In Coimbra, Castelo Branco, and Santarém, the PS lost a seat to the AD in each district, no longer being the most-voted party.
In Portalegre and Beja, while they ceased to be the most-voted party, they did not lose any mandates.
Elsewhere, the PS lost seats in Porto (losing two) and in Aveiro, Viseu, Braga, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Leiria, Faro, Azores, and Madeira, where they lost one seat in each.
