2018 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

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.

2018 Social Democratic Party leadership election

← 2016 13 January 2018 2020 →
Turnout	60.3% 13.9 pp
Candidate Rui Rio Pedro Santana Lopes Popular vote 22,728 19,244 Percentage 54.2% 45.8%
Leader before election Pedro Passos Coelho Elected Leader Rui Rio

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.
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	[4]
Rui Rio	6 August 1957 (age 60) Porto	Mayor of Porto (2001–2013) Member of Parliament for Porto (1991–2002)	11 October 2017	[5]

Declined

• Luís Montenegro – former Parliamentary leader of the PSD (2011–2017)^[6]
• Miguel Pinto Luz – incumbent Deputy mayor of Cascais (2017–2024)^[7]
• André Ventura – candidate for Mayor of Loures in the 2017 local election^[8] (endorsed Pedro Santana Lopes)^[9]

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
		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%

See also

• Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal