Centre-left António Seguro wins Portuguese election runoff

Centre-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro takes a convincing win over far-right rival André Ventura in Sunday’s Portuguese presidential election, according to official results with 99% of votes counted. He becomes the first president from the socialist camp in 20 years and now returns to the forefront of national politics. In his victory speech, he promised to be a demanding and vigilant president, but never a counter-power.

“I promised loyalty and institutional cooperation with the government, and I will keep my word. I will never be a counter-power, but I will be a president who is demanding when it comes to solutions and results,” said Seguro.

Seguro, 63, secured a five-year term in Lisbon with 66.7% of the vote, compared with 33.3% for Ventura’s Chega party. The new Socialist leader campaigned as a moderate candidate and pledged cooperation with Portugal’s centre-right minority government, rejecting Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

He gathered support from other mainstream politicians who want to halt the rising populist tide.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to social media to congratulate Seguro, writing: “Portugal’s voice for our shared European values remains strong.”

Meanwhile, André Ventura knew from the outset the night would not end in victory. Still, he recorded his strongest result to date, with Chega surpassing one and a half million votes for the first time. While falling short of the nearly two million won by the Democratic Alliance in the last legislative elections, Ventura secured 33 percent — higher than the 31 percent obtained by the governing parties in May.

André Ventura said he feels strengthened after election night. He claims to be the leader of an unstoppable movement that, sooner or later, will succeed in transforming Portugal, in the name of the people, against the elites.

Following the results, Ventura shared his optimism for his party. He said, “I think the message from the Portuguese people was clear. We lead the right in Portugal, we lead the right-wing space in Portugal, and we will soon govern this country.”

Eleven million people in Portugal and abroad were eligible to cast their ballots in the election.

António José Seguro was a favourite to win the runoff against André Ventura, whose Chega party was created in 2019 and is now the largest opposition force in parliament.

In the first round of the election, Seguro won 31.1% of the vote, while Ventura took 23.52%.

In Portugal, the presidency is largely a figurehead with no executive authority. Traditionally, the head of state remains above party politics, acting as a mediator to resolve disputes and ease tensions.