Portugal Elects Socialist António José Seguro

Socialist António José Seguro triumphed over his far-right rival in Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday. 

Seguro won 66.8% of the vote compared to André Ventura of the far-right Chega party with 33.2%.

Seguro will replace outgoing president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa after a race marked by a cross-party effort to prevent the far-right candidate from succeeding. 

Responding to his victory, Seguro said: “The response the Portuguese people gave today, their commitment to freedom, democracy, and the future of our country, leaves me naturally moved and proud of our nation.”

Seguro ran as a moderate willing to cooperate with the centre-right government led by prime minister Luís Montenegro. He stood in clear opposition to Ventura’s anti-immigration platform.

Chega set up billboards across Portugal bearing slogans stating “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare” and “This isn’t Bangladesh”. But the vote share won by Ventura is still a historic victory for Chega, and builds on the 22.8% the party took in the May 2025 general election.

Chega was set up by former football pundit and novelist Ventura in 2019 as a low-tax, socially conservative party. Following the presidential election result, Ventura claimed Chega was now Portugal’s main rightwing party and would “soon be governing” the country.

The presidency of Portugal is a largely ceremonial position but includes the power to dissolve parliament under certain circumstances. Ventura had pledged to be a more ‘interventionist’ president and called for increased powers for the head of state.