2021 Lisbon local election

Main article: 2021 Portuguese local elections

The 2021 Lisbon local election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the Lisbon City Council.

2021 Lisbon local elections

← 2017 26 September 2021 2025 →
All 17 Councillors in the Lisbon City Council 9 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	51.0% 0.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Carlos Moedas Fernando Medina João Ferreira Party PSD PS PCP Alliance New Times[a] More Lisbon[b] CDU Last election 6 seats, 31.8%[c] 8 seats, 42.0% 2 seats, 9.5% Seats won 7 7 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 83,185 80,907 25,550 Percentage 34.3% 33.3% 10.5% Swing 2.5 pp 8.7 pp 1.0 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Beatriz Gomes Dias Nuno Graciano Bruno Horta Soares Party BE CH IL Last election 1 seat, 7.1% Did not contest Did not contest Seats won 1 0 0 Seat change New party New party Popular vote 15,057 10,730 10,213 Percentage 6.2% 4.4% 4.2% Swing 0.9 pp New party New party
Valid votes per parish Carlos Moedas (PSD)   30–39%   40-49%   50-59% Fernando Medina (PS)   30–39%   40-49%   50-59%
Mayor before election Fernando Medina PS Elected Mayor Carlos Moedas PSD

In what was the biggest surprise of the 2021 municipal elections, Carlos Moedas, the candidate of the center-right coalition led by the Social Democratic Party, managed to be elected Mayor of Lisbon and put an end to 14 years of Socialist rule.^[1] Against all expectations, the center-right coalition managed to regain the capital by winning 34.3 percent of the votes and 7 councilors.^[2] Despite his victory, Carlos Moedas had to seek understandings with the other parties represented in the City Council.

The big loser in this election was Fernando Medina, candidate of the Socialist Party (which ran in alliance with LIVRE), as he lost his reelection bid, an office he had hold since 2015 and which had been in Socialist hands since 2007. Unexpectedly, the Socialists lost almost 10 percent of the votes compared with the previous election, with Medina labeling the defeat as "personal".^[3]

The Unitary Democratic Coalition presented former MEP João Ferreira again and achieved positive results, registering a slight electoral growth to 10.5 percent, the best result for CDU since 2005, and that guaranteed two Communist councilors.^[4] The Left Bloc, which presented Beatriz Gomes Dias as a candidate for mayor, managed to keep their sole seat in the municipal council, despite having registered a slight drop in votes.^[5]

People-Animals-Nature, CHEGA, and Liberal Initiative failed to elect any councilor.

Background

In the 2017 election, the Socialist Party led by Fernando Medina, won with a comfortable advantage over the opposition parties, although losing its absolute majority. The center-right wing alliance led by Assunção Cristas' CDS - Peoples Party obtained a historic result for the chamber, surpassing 20 percent of the votes and electing 4 councilors. The Social Democratic Party, which had Teresa Leal Coelho as its candidate, had its worst result in history in Lisbon, finishing in third place, with just over 11 percent of the votes and 2 councilors, a far cry from the Socialists and Christian Democrats (CDS).

Finally, the Unitary Democratic Coalition obtained 9.6 percent, winning 2 councilors and the Left Bloc obtained its best municipal result in the capital, managing to conquer 1 councilor with 7.1 percent and entering in a coalition with the Socialists.

Electoral system

Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method. Unlike in national legislative elections, independent lists are allowed to run.^[6][7]

Parties and candidates

Party/Coalition			Political position	Candidate[8]	2017 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	ML	More Lisbon Mais Lisboa PS, LIVRE	Centre-left	Fernando Medina	42.0%	8 / 17
	NT	New Times Novos Tempos PPD/PSD, CDS–PP, A, MPT, PPM	Centre-right	Carlos Moedas	31.8%	6 / 17
	CDU	Unitary Democratic Coalition Coligação Democrática Unitária PCP, PEV	Left-wing to far-left	João Ferreira	9.5%	2 / 17
	BE	Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda	Left-wing to far-left	Beatriz Gomes Dias	7.1%	1 / 17
	PAN	People Animals Nature Pessoas-Animais-Natureza	Centre-left	Manuela Gonzaga	3.0%	0 / 17
	NC	We, the Citizens! Nós, Cidadãos!	Centre-right	Sofia Afonso Ferreira	0.6%	0 / 17
	E	Rise Up[d] Ergue-te	Far-right	João Patrocínio	0.5%	0 / 17
	PDR	Democratic Republican Party Partido Democrático Republicano	Centre	Bruno Fialho	0.3%	0 / 17
	IL	Liberal Initiative Iniciativa Liberal	Centre-right to right-wing	Bruno Horta Soares	—	—
	CH	Enough! Chega!	Right-wing to far-right	Nuno Graciano	—	—
	VP	Volt Portugal Volt Portugal	Centre to centre-left	Tiago Matos Gomes	—	—
	STL	We are all Lisbon Somos todos Lisboa	Right-wing	Ossanda Liber	—	—

Campaign period

Issues

In June 2021, it was revealed that Lisbon City Hall had voluntarily sent, since 2012, personal data of dissidents from authoritarian regimes living in Lisbon to the respective embassies of these countries, mainly Russia, in what was called the Russiagate scandal.^[9] Mayor Fernando Medina said he was unaware of these actions by City Hall, saying it was a regrettable mistake and that he was sorry.^[10] Lisbon City Hall was later ordered to pay fines of several thousand euros.^[11]

Just a few days before election day, Sábado magazine also revealed that the Socialist Party (PS) parish president of Arroios, Margarida Martins, had a habit of not paying for items, using parish services for personal expenses.^[12] A criminal investigation was later opened.^[13]

Party slogans

Party or alliance		Original slogan	English translation	Refs
	ML	« Mais Lisboa »	"More Lisbon"	[14]
	NT	« Novos Tempos » « Lisboa pode ser muito mais do que imaginas »	"New Times" "Lisbon can be much more than you think"	[15]
	CDU	« Por uma Lisboa com vida »	"For a Lisbon with life"	[16]
	BE	« Uma cidade em comum »	"A city in common"	[17]
	PAN	« Lisboa nas tuas mãos »	"Lisbon in your hands "	[18]
	IL	« 1 vereador liberal faz toda a diferença »	"1 liberal councillor makes all the difference"	[19]
	CH	« Chega. Lisboa sem Corrupção »	"Enough. Lisbon without corruption"	[20]

Candidates' debates

2021 Lisbon local election debates
Date	Organisers	Moderator(s)	P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee
			ML Medina	NT Moedas	CDU Ferreira	BE Dias	PAN Gonzaga	IL Soares	CH Graciano	NC S. Ferreira	E Patrocínio	PDR Fialho	VP Gomes	STL Liber	Refs
2 Sep 2021	SIC Notícias	Clara de Sousa	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	N	N	N	N	N	[21]
7 Sep 2021	TVI, TVI24	Sara Pinto	P	P	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	[22]
9 Sep 2021	Antena 1	Natália Carvalho	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	[23]
15 Sep 2021	RTP1, RTP3	António José Teixeira	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	[24]

Opinion polling

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Link	Fieldwork date	Sample size	PS L	PSD CDS PPM MPT A	CDU	BE	PAN	IL	CH	O	Lead
2021 local election	26 Sep 2021	—	33.3 7	34.3 7	10.5 2	6.2 1	2.7 0	4.2 0	4.4 0	4.4 0	1.0
CESOP–UCP	26 Sep 2021	4,146	31–35 6/8	32–36 6/8	10–13 1/2	5–7 1	2–4 0	3–5 0/1	3–5 0/1	2–9 0	1
ICS/ISCTE	26 Sep 2021	8,159	31.3– 36.3 6/8	30.2– 35.2 6/8	10.4– 13.4 2/3	5.7– 8.7 1/2	1.8– 3.8 0	3.2– 6.2 0/1	2.4– 5.4 0/1	1.6– 4.6 0	1.1
Pitagórica	26 Sep 2021	6,206	32.6– 38.6 7	29.3– 35.3 6/7	6.6– 12.6 2	4.2– 8.2 1	1.0– 5.0 0	3.3– 7.3 0/1	1.9– 5.9 0	2.1– 6.1 0	3.3– 3.7
Intercampus	26 Sep 2021	6,406	32.0– 36.4 6/8	31.2– 35.6 6/8	10.1– 13.7 1/3	5.5– 8.5 0/2	1.6– 4.6 0/1	2.9– 5.9 0/1	1.6– 4.6 0/1	2.5– 3.3 0	0.8
Pitagórica	15–21 Sep 2021	600	40.6 8/9	33.1 6/7	7.6 1	4.7 0/1	3.2 0	3.2 0	2.1 0	5.5 0	7.5
CESOP–UCP	16–20 Sep 2021	1,292	37 7/8	28 5/6	11 1/2	7 1	3 0	5 0/1	3 0	6 0	9
Pitagórica	30 Aug–4 Sep 2021	600	39.8 8/9	32.6 6/7	8.5 1	6.8 1	3.8 0	3.0 0	2.8 0	2.7 0	7.2
Intercampus	25–30 Aug 2021	642	45.2 9	27.0 5	9.7 2	8.5 1	1.8 0	2.1 0	3.2 0	2.5 0	18.2
Eurosondagem	23–26 Aug 2021	2,225	38.6 8	26.9 4	7.7 0/2	6.3 0/2	3.3 0/1	6.3 0/2	4.8 0/2	6.1 0	11.7
Aximage	14–21 Aug 2021	792	51	27	9	4	2	2	2	3	24
ICS/ISCTE	3–18 Jul 2021	803	42	31	6	8	3	2	4	4	11
Intercampus	8–13 Apr 2021	611	46.6	25.7	7.1	6.6	0.5	2.3	6.1	5.1	20.9
2019 legislative election	6 Oct 2019	—	36.5 (8)	33.1 (7)	7.0 (1)	9.1 (1)	4.1 (0)	4.1 (0)	1.4 (0)	4.7 (0)	3.4
2019 EP election	26 May 2019	—	33.9 (7)	31.1 (6)	7.0 (1)	10.7 (2)	6.6 (1)	2.0 (0)	—	8.7 (0)	2.8
2017 local election	1 Oct 2017	—	42.0 8	31.8 6[c]	9.6 2	7.1 1	3.0 0	—	—	6.5 (0)	10.2

Results

Carlos Moedas delivering his victory speech on election night 2021.

Municipal Council

Summary of the 26 September 2021 Lisbon City Council elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Councillors
					Total	±
	PSD / CDS–PP / Alliance / MPT / PPM	83,185	34.27	2.5	7	1
	Socialist / LIVRE	80,907	33.33	8.7	7	1
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	25,550	10.53	1.0	2	0
	Left Bloc	15,057	6.20	0.9	1	0
	CHEGA	10,730	4.42	—	0	—
	Liberal Initiative	10,213	4.21	—	0	—
	People–Animals–Nature	6,625	2.73	0.3	0	0
	Volt Portugal	1,016	0.42	—	0	—
	We are all Lisbon (STL)	864	0.36	—	0	—
	We, the Citizens!	494	0.20	0.4	0	0
	Rise Up	338	0.14	0.4	0	0
	Democratic Republican	319	0.13	0.2	0	0
Total valid		235,298	96.93	1.1	17	0
Blank ballots		4,823	1.99	0.6
Invalid ballots		2,622	1.08	0.4
Total		242,743	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		476,050	50.99	0.1
Source: Lisbon 2021 election results

Municipal Assembly

Summary of the 26 September 2021 Lisbon Municipal Assembly elections
results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Seats
					Total	±
	PSD / CDS–PP / Alliance / MPT / PPM	75,616	31.15	0.9	17	0
	Socialist / LIVRE	74,765	30.80	6.9	17	5
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	26,890	11.08	0.9	6	0
	Left Bloc	18,528	7.63	0.8	4	0
	Liberal Initiative	14,447	5.95	—	3	—
	CHEGA	13,004	5.36	—	3	—
	People–Animals–Nature	8,573	3.53	0.8	1	1
	Volt Portugal	1,401	0.58	—	0	—
	We are all Lisbon (STL)	1,069	0.44	—	0	—
	Rise Up	438	0.18	0.4	0	0
Total valid		234,731	96.70	1.1	51	0
Blank ballots		5,337	2.20	0.7
Invalid ballots		2,671	1.10	0.4
Total		242,739	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		476,740	50.92	0.2
Source: Lisbon 2021 election results

Parish Assemblies

Results of the 26 September 2021 Lisbon Parish Assembly elections

Parish	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	Total S
	ML		NT		CDU		BE		IL		CH		PAN		IND
Ajuda	51.5	8	15.9	2	13.6	2	6.5	1	3.6	-	5.5	-					13
Alcântara	53.7	8	18.8	3	9.3	1	5.3	-	6.2	1	3.8	-					13
Alvalade	28.6	6	33.2	7	8.6	2	6.4	1	6.4	1	4.2	1			5.0	1	19
Areeiro	25.9	4	42.6	7	7.7	1	5.8	-	7.0	1	4.6	-	3.4	-			13
Arroios	23.8	5	29.0	6	12.5	3	10.7	2	5.5	1	4.2	1	5.4	1	3.6	-	19
Avenidas Novas	26.8	5	43.0	9	6.9	1	5.8	1	9.1	2	4.8	1					19
Beato	39.5	6	18.2	3	13.0	2	9.4	1	2.5	-	7.5	1			5.8	-	13
Belém	24.2	4	46.4	7	6.6	1	4.0	-	8.6	1	4.8	-	2.6	-			13
Benfica	45.6	10	23.7	5	8.9	2	6.5	1	3.8	-	5.0	1	3.3	-			19
Campo de Ourique	34.3	5	34.0	5	8.8	1	7.5	1	6.4	1	4.8	-					13
Campolide	38.9	6	25.7	4	9.0	1	6.8	1	6.8	1	5.5	-	3.7	-			13
Carnide	18.2	3	20.1	3	45.5	7	3.3	-	3.5	-	3.8	-	2.1	-			13
Estrela	23.7	3	47.8	8	7.1	1	5.6	-	7.3	1	5.3	-					13
Lumiar	27.1	6	41.3	9	8.7	1	5.2	1	6.6	1	4.6	1	3.2	-			19
Marvila	48.5	11	13.7	3	11.7	2	6.9	1	2.4	-	9.2	2	2.4	-			19
Misericórdia	33.1	6	27.4	4	12.3	2	10.6	1	5.1	-	4.5	-	4.0	-			13
Olivais	34.7	8	24.9	5	13.8	3	8.0	1	3.4	-	6.8	1	4.5	1			19
Parque das Nações	34.4	5	35.8	6	7.4	1	4.2	-	8.0	1	4.4	-	2.8	-			13
Penha de França	37.0	8	20.6	4	13.5	3	11.2	2	3.8	-	5.3	1	4.5	1			19
Santa Clara	36.2	6	22.0	3	12.4	2	6.4	1	3.8	-	11.2	1					13
Santa Maria Maior	45.0	8	16.4	2	14.3	2	7.7	1	3.6	-	4.2	-	3.3	-	1.4	-	13
Santo António	23.6	3	44.6	7	8.1	1	7.4	1	6.7	1	3.4	-	3.4	-			13
São Domingos de Benfica	32.8	7	35.3	8	8.6	2	6.1	1	5.8	1	4.2	-	3.8	-			19
São Vicente	28.7	5	19.4	3	22.9	3	11.6	2	5.0	-	3.5	-	4.3	-			13
Total	33.3	146	30.5	123	11.5	47	6.8	21	5.5	14	5.2	11	2.8	3	0.7	1	366
Source: Election Results