2018 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

2018 Social Democratic Party leadership election
Turnout	60.3% 13.9 pp
Leader before election; Pedro Passos Coelho ;	Elected Leader; Rui Rio ;

Last updated June 18, 2024

The 2018 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 13 January 2018. The leadership election was held after then PSD leader Pedro Passos Coelho confirmed he would not run for another term in the aftermath of the poor results of the PSD in the 2017 local elections.

Only two candidates came forward: Rui Rio, former mayor of Porto, and Pedro Santana Lopes, former PSD leader, Prime Minister and mayor of Lisbon. This was Santana Lopes 5th leadership campaign, as he also ran in 1995, 1996, 2000, and 2008. As only two candidates were on the ballot, a second round wasn't necessary. On January 13, 2018, Rui Rio defeated Pedro Santana Lopes by a 54% to 46% margin, thus becoming the new leader of the PSD.^[1] Pedro Santana Lopes was, again, defeated in a PSD leadership contest for a 5th time. Rui Rio was confirmed as the new party leader on a party national congress held in Lisbon between 16 and 18 February 2018.^[2] Six months after this leadership election, Santana Lopes left the PSD to form his own party, Alliance.^[3]

Candidates

Name	Born	Experience	Announcement date	Ref.
Rui Rio	6 August 1957 (age 60) Porto	Mayor of Porto (2001–2013) Member of Parliament for Porto (1991–2002)	11 October 2017	^[4]
Pedro Santana Lopes	29 June 1956 (age 61) Lisbon	Prime Minister (2004-2005) President of the Social Democratic Party (2004–2005) Mayor of Lisbon (2002-2004); (2005) Mayor of Figueira da Foz (1997-2001) Secretary of State of Culture (1990-1994) Member of Parliament for Lisbon (1980–1991); (1999–2002); (2005–2009) Member of the European Parliament (1987–1989)	10 October 2017	^[5]

Withdrawn candidates

Luís Montenegro, PSD caucus leader (2011–2017)
Miguel Pinto Luz, Deputy mayor of Cascais city (2017–Incumbent)

Opinion polls

All voters

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other /None

			Rui Rio	Santana Lopes
Aximage	6–9 Jan 2018	600	69.0	22.5	8.5
Aximage	1–4 Dec 2017	603	71.9	21.8	6.3
Aximage	4–6 Nov 2017	600	65.8	24.3	9.9
Eurosondagem	16–18 Oct 2017	1,003	43.3	42.2	12.5

PSD voters/PSD members

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other /None

			Rui Rio	Santana Lopes
Eurosondagem (PSD members)	7–9 Jan 2018	548	48.9	51.1
Aximage (PSD voters)	6–9 Jan 2018	600	60.4	37.1	2.5
Aximage (PSD voters)	1–4 Dec 2017	603	70.5	26.8	2.7
Aximage (PSD voters)	4–6 Nov 2017	600	69.6	28.0	2.4

Results

Summary of the January 2018 PSD leadership election results
Candidate		13 January 2018
Candidate		Votes	%
	Rui Rio	22,728	54.15
	Pedro Santana Lopes	19,244	45.85

Total		41,972

Valid votes		41,972	98.40
Invalid and blank ballots		683	1.60
Votes cast / turnout		42,655	60.34
Registered voters		70,692

Sources: Official results

Vote share

Rui Rio			54.15%
Pedro Santana Lopes			45.85%

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References

↑ "Rui Rio é o novo líder do PSD ", SIC Notícias , 13 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
↑ "Rio: "Não há qualquer hipótese de um bloco central", Jornal de Notícias , 16 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
↑ "Santana Lopes formaliza saída do PSD e prepara-se para formar um novo partido ", SIC Notícias , 4 August 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
↑ Notícias ao Minuto (11 October 2017). "Rui Rio oficializa candidatura. "PSD não é nem nunca será de Direita"" . Retrieved 2 February 2020.
↑ Diário de Notícias (10 October 2017). "Santana Lopes anuncia candidatura à presidência do PSD" . Retrieved 2 February 2020.

External links

Election Results Archived 2019-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
PSD Official Website

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[1] "Rui Rio é o novo líder do PSD ", SIC Notícias , 13 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

[2] "Rio: "Não há qualquer hipótese de um bloco central", Jornal de Notícias , 16 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

[3] "Santana Lopes formaliza saída do PSD e prepara-se para formar um novo partido ", SIC Notícias , 4 August 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

[4] Notícias ao Minuto (11 October 2017). "Rui Rio oficializa candidatura. "PSD não é nem nunca será de Direita"" . Retrieved 2 February 2020.

[5] Diário de Notícias (10 October 2017). "Santana Lopes anuncia candidatura à presidência do PSD" . Retrieved 2 February 2020.

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