2021 Porto local election

Main article: 2021 Portuguese local elections

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

2021 Porto local elections

← 2017 26 September 2021 2025 →
All 13 Councillors in the Porto City Council 7 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	48.8% 4.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rui Moreira Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro Vladimiro Feliz Party Independent PS PSD Alliance Here There's Porto Last election 7 seats, 44.5% 4 seats, 28.6% 1 seat (PA)[a] Seats won 6 3 2 Seat change 1 1 1 Popular vote 41,167 18,201 17,426 Percentage 40.7% 18.0% 17.2% Swing 3.7 pp 10.6 pp [a]   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ilda Figueiredo Sérgio Aires António Fonseca Party PCP BE CH Alliance CDU Last election 1 seat, 5.9% 0 seats, 5.3% Did not contest Seats won 1 1 0 Seat change 1 New party Popular vote 7,609 6,323 2,980 Percentage 7.5% 6.3% 3.0% Swing 1.6 pp 0.9 pp New party
Mayor before election Rui Moreira Independent Elected mayor Rui Moreira Independent

As expected, Rui Moreira, mayor since 2013, won a third term as Mayor of Porto, despite losing his majority in the city council. He beat the Socialist candidate, Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro, who lost about 10% of the votes and 1 city councillor, and the Social Democratic candidate, Vladimiro Feliz, who despite an increase in his vote share failed to achieve the goal of surpassing the PS.^[1]

The Unitary Democratic Coalition presented Ilda Figueiredo again and achieved positive results, registering a slight electoral growth to 7.5 percent. The Left Bloc, which presented Sérgio Aires as a candidate for mayor, gained a seat in the City Council, for the first time in its history.^[2]

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

Background

In the 2017 election, Rui Moreira's independent movement won an absolute majority of seats and 44.5% of the votes. The Socialist Party, led by Manuel Pizarro, finished with a strong second place, winning 28.6% of the votes and electing 4 councillors. The Social Democratic Party, in coalition with the People's Monarchist Party, which had Álvaro Almeida as its candidate, had its worst result in history in Porto, finishing in third place, with just over 10 percent of the votes and 1 councilor.^[3]

Finally, the Unitary Democratic Coalition obtained 5.9 percent, winning 1 councilor, while the Left Bloc obtained 5.3 percent of the votes and failed to gain any seats.

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.^[4][5]

Parties and candidates

Party/Coalition			Political position	Candidate[6]	2017 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	RM	Rui Moreira – Here there's Porto[b] Rui Moreira – Aqui há Porto	Center-right to right-wing	Rui Moreira	44.5%	7 / 13
	PS	Socialist Party Partido Socialista	Centre-left	Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro [pt]	28.6%	4 / 13
	PSD	Social Democratic Party Partido Social Democrata	Centre-right	Vladimiro Feliz [pt]	10.4%	1 / 13
	PPM	People's Monarchist Party Partido Popular Monárquico	Right-wing	Diogo Araújo Dantas		0 / 13
	CDU	Unitary Democratic Coalition Coligação Democrática Unitária PCP, PEV	Left-wing to far-left	Ilda Figueiredo	5.9%	1 / 13
	BE	Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda	Left-wing to far-left	Sérgio Aires	5.3%	0 / 13
	PAN	People Animals Nature Pessoas-Animais-Natureza	Centre-left	Bebiana Cunha [pt]	1.9%	0 / 13
	E	Rise Up[c] Ergue-te	Far-right	Bruno Rebelo	0.2%	0 / 13
	CH	Enough! Chega!	Right-wing to far-right	António Fonseca	—	—
	L	FREE LIVRE	Center-left	Diamantino Raposinho	—	—
	VP	Volt Portugal Volt Portugal	Centre to centre-left	André Eira	—	—

Opinion polling

Polling

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Link	Fieldwork date	Sample size	RM	PS	PSD	CDU	BE	PAN	L	CH	O	Lead
2021 local election	26 Sep 2021	—	40.7 6	18.0 3	17.2 2	7.5 1	6.3 1	2.8 0	0.5 0	3.0 0	4.0 0	22.7
CESOP–UCP	26 Sep 2021	3,957	39–44 6/8	16–19 2/3	16–19 2/3	6–9 1	5–8 0/1	2–4 0	0–1 0	2–4 0	2–7 0	23– 25
ICS/ISCTE	26 Sep 2021	6,309	39.2– 44.2 5/7	16.5– 20.5 2/4	15.1– 19.1 1/3	5.6– 8.6 1/2	4.9– 7.9 1/2	2.0– 4.0 0	–	1.5– 3.5 0	2.3– 5.3 0	22.7– 23.7
Pitagórica	26 Sep 2021	5,390	39.2– 45.2 6/7	13.7– 19.7 2/3	12.2– 18.2 2	6.5– 10.5 1	5.3– 9.3 0/1	1.2– 5.2 0	–	0.8– 4.8 0	2.1– 6.1 0	25.5
Intercampus	26 Sep 2021	4,106	40.1– 44.9 6/8	15.5– 19.5 1/3	14.9– 18.9 1/3	5.4– 9.0 0/2	5.1– 8.1 0/2	1.24– 4.4 0	–	1.0– 4.0 0	3.5– 4.4 0	24.6– 25.4
Pitagórica	15–20 Sep 2021	600	52.7 8/9	15.3 2	11.5 1/2	6.1 0/1	4.1 0	2.9 0	0.7 0	2.7 0	4.0 0	37.4
CESOP–UCP	16–19 Sep 2021	1,041	45 7/8	17 2/3	14 1/3	7 1	4 0	3 0	1 0	3 0	6 0	28
Pitagórica	2–5 Sep 2021	601	52.8	15.7	14.0	5.8	3.5	2.2	—	1.8	4.2	37.1
Aximage	12–19 Aug 2021	820	59	12	12	6	4	2	—	1	4	47
ICS/ISCTE	26 Jun–10 Jul 2021	800	45	25	8	8	5	2	1	1	5	20
2017 local election	1 Oct 2017	—	44.5 7	28.6 4	10.4 1	5.9 1	5.3 0	1.9 0	—	—	3.4 0	15.9

Results

Municipal Council

Summary of the 26 September 2021 Municipal Council elections results
in Porto

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Councillors
					Total	±
	Rui Moreira – Here there's Porto	41,167	40.72	3.8	6	1
	Socialist	18,201	18.00	10.5	3	1
	Social Democratic	17,426	17.24	6.9	2	1
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	7,609	7.53	1.6	1	0
	Left Bloc	6,323	6.25	0.9	1	1
	CHEGA	2,980	2.95	—	0	—
	People–Animals–Nature	2,819	2.79	0.9	0	0
	LIVRE	462	0.46	—	0	—
	Volt Portugal	423	0.42	—	0	—
	People's Monarchist	212	0.21	—	0	0
	Rise Up	80	0.08	0.1	0	0
Total valid		97,702	96.64	0.4	13	0
Blank ballots		2,251	2.23	0.6
Invalid ballots		1,148	1.14	0.3
Total		101,101	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		207,129	48.81	4.9
Source: Porto 2021 election results

Municipal Assembly

Summary of the 26 September 2021 Porto Municipal Assembly elections
results

3 3 8 1 15 8 1
Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Seats
					Total	±
	Rui Moreira – Here there's Porto	34,900	34.52	4.3	15	1
	Socialist	19,386	19.18	8.0	8	3
	Social Democratic	18,767	18.56	—	8	3
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	8,497	8.41	1.6	3	0
	Left Bloc	7,630	7.55	0.9	3	0
	People–Animals–Nature	3,732	3.69	0.9	1	0
	CHEGA	3,440	3.40	—	1	—
	LIVRE	633	0.63	—	0	—
	People's Monarchist	275	0.27	—	0	0
	Alliance	202	0.20	—	0	—
	Rise Up	106	0.10	—	0	—
Total valid		97,568	96.52	0.2	39	0
Blank ballots		2,339	2.31	0.6
Invalid ballots		1,182	1.17	0.4
Total		101,089	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		207,129	48.80	4.9
Source: Porto 2021 election results

Parish Assemblies

Results of the 26 September 2021 Porto Parish Assembly elections

Parish	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	Total S
	RM		PSD		PS		BE		CDU		CH		PAN
Aldoar, Foz do Douro e Nevogilde	36.9	8	27.5	6	15.2	3	6.2	1	5.0	1	4.3	-			19
Bonfim	24.7	5	22.2	5	21.2	4	9.9	2	10.0	2	3.4	-	4.5	1	19
Campanhã			20.5	4	43.0	10	8.4	1	11.8	2	5.4	1	5.6	1	19
Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória	25.6	6	18.7	4	21.1	4	12.0	2	9.7	2	3.2	-	4.7	1	19
Lordelo do Ouro e Massarelos	32.2	7	21.5	5	18.0	4	7.3	1	8.9	2	4.0	-	3.0	-	19
Paranhos	22.1	5	32.0	8	20.9	5	7.6	2	7.0	1	2.7	-	3.8	-	21
Ramalde	31.4	7	20.2	5	22.2	5	7.9	1	6.8	1	3.6	-	3.8	-	19
Total	29.1	38	23.7	36	22.8	35	8.4	10	8.2	11	3.7	1	3.6	3	135
Source: Election Results