1985 Portuguese legislative election

The 1985 Portuguese legislative election took place on 6 October. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic.

The election was called after the resignation, in June 1985, of Socialist Party (PS) Prime Minister Mário Soares, following the withdrawal of the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) from the Central Bloc government. Soares didn't contest the election, deciding to run for the January 1986 Presidential elections instead.

On election day, the Social Democrats came in first place with nearly 30% of the votes and Cavaco became Prime Minister, while the Socialists achieved their worst result ever, less than 21% of the votes and 57 seats."Noite Eleitoral. PS registou o seu pior resultado de sempre nas legislativas de 2025?", Polígrafo, 18 May 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2026. The election was the first of three consecutive election victories for the Social Democratic Party. The Communists also lost votes and MPs, and the left would only return to the government ten years later, in 1995. CDS as well had a drop in support, following their rejection of a PSD/CDS joint list for the election.

The election results were also prominent because a new party had been formed by supporters of the then-incumbent President Ramalho Eanes, the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD). The party's results were a surprise, gaining more than one million votes and electing 45 MPs, becoming the parliamentary support of Cavaco's government until 1987, when it withdrew its support, causing the government to fall. Compared with the previous election, voter turnout fell, with just over 74% of voters casting a ballot.

Background Following the 1983 election, the Socialist Party (PS) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) formed a coalition, the Central Bloc government, which implemented a severe bailout package to rescue the country's economy and public finances.

Government fall

Two years after being formed, the Central Bloc government (PS+PSD) became very unpopular, with deep divisions forming both between the two coalition parties and within them, as growing poverty, budget cuts and unemployment, due to the International Monetary Fund bailout policies, were leading to massive protests. After February 1985, internal problems within the PSD, coupled with unexpected events, led to a leadership dispute that culminated in the election of a new leader, resulting in the party's withdrawal from the government and Soares' resignation as prime minister. President Eanes dissolved the Assembly and called a new election for 6 October.

Leadership changes and challenges Social Democratic Party By 1985, deep divisions were consuming the PSD regarding their role in the Central Bloc government with the PS"1985 o ano que lançou Cavaco, por Ferreira Fernandes", Diario de Notícias, 9 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2022. and the party's strategy for the 1986 presidential election. Then deputy prime minister and PSD leader Carlos Mota Pinto, resigned from both the government and the party's leadership, and a snap party congress was called."Bloco Central junta PS e PSD", Diario de Notícias, 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022. But, Mota Pinto, who was expected to run for the leadership in the snap congress, died suddenly just 10 days before the start of the congress in Figueira da Foz."Mota Pinto, o aliado de Soares que militava no PPD", Público, 15 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022. João Salgueiro, the candidate from "Mota Pinto's wing" was expected to win easily, but former finance minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva surprised the party by announcing a late candidacy, in what is now known as the "testing of Cavaco's new Citroën"."19 de Maio de 1985: O líder inesperado ", Expresso, 17 May 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2022. Cavaco Silva had the support of the wings against the Central Bloc, also proposing the party's support for Diogo Freitas do Amaral in the 1986 presidential election, and against all odds he defeated Salgueiro by 57 votes."Cavaco Silva e as Eleições Legislativas de 1985: uma Introdução", Alexandre António da Costa Luís, 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2022. The results were the following:

Socialist Party After the fall of the Central Bloc government, Mário Soares was acclaimed as the PS candidate for the 1986 Presidential election, and shortly thereafter, António Almeida Santos was selected as the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the 1985 legislative election, defeating a last minute candidacy from Jaime Gama."Reunião da Comissão Nacional do PS", RTP, 13 July 1985. Retrieved 27 May 2026."Quando o candidato do PS não foi o líder", Diario de Notícias, 3 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2022.

Electoral system The Assembly of the Republic has 250 members elected to four-year terms. Governments do not require absolute majority support of the Assembly to hold office, as even if the number of opposers of government is larger than that of the supporters, the number of opposers still needs to be equal or greater than 126 (absolute majority) for both the Government's Programme to be rejected or for a motion of no confidence to be approved.

The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the district magnitude. The use of the d'Hondt method makes for a higher effective threshold than certain other allocation methods such as the Hare quota or Sainte-Laguë method, which are more generous to small parties.Gallaher, Michael (1992). "Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes and Majorities"

For these elections, and compared with the 1983 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following: District Number of MPs Map Lisbon 56 Porto 39 Setúbal 17 Braga 16 Aveiro 15 Santarém 12 Leiria and Coimbra 11 Viseu 10 Faro 9 Castelo Branco, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real 6 Azores, Beja, Évora, Guarda and Madeira 5 Bragança 4 Portalegre 3 Europe and Outside Europe 2

Parties Before the election, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) considered running in a joint coalition for the elections, with the PSD "offering" 25 safe seats to CDS on the lists, but this proposal was rejected by CDS and the two parties decided to contest the election separately. The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the 3rd legislature (1983–1985) and that also partook in the election: Name Ideology Political position Leader 1983 resultComposição dos Grupos Parlamentares/Partidos % Seats PS Socialist Party Social democracy Centre-left Almeida Santos 36.1% UEDS Left-wing Union for the Socialist Democracy Democratic SocialismWorkers' self-management Left-wing António Lopes Cardoso ASDI Independent Social-Democratic Action Democratic SocialismSocial democracy Centre-left António de Sousa Franco PPD/PSD Social Democratic Party Centre-right Aníbal Cavaco Silva 27.2% PCP Portuguese Communist Party CommunismMarxism–Leninism Far-left Álvaro Cunhal18.1% MDP/CDE Portuguese Democratic Movement Left-wing nationalismDemocratic socialism Left-wing José Manuel Tengarrinha CDS Democratic and Social Centre Christian democracy Francisco Lucas Pires 12.6%

Campaign period Issues Following two years of strong austerity and political instability, voter apathy was a concern during the campaign. The Socialist Party (PS), under a new leader, Almeida Santos, blamed the instability on the PSD and sought a majority of its own, with banners asking voters "43% for the PS", but the party was damaged by high unemployment and the IMF bailout measures. On the other hand, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), also under a new leader, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, personalized its campaign around the leader, portraying Cavaco as a strong and stable figure. The campaign was also marked by the "eruption" of the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), which ran under a populist message, aligned with the popular incumbent President António Ramalho Eanes, and although it was officially led by Hermínio Martinho, the main figure of the party's campaign was first lady Manuela Ramalho Eanes, who campaigned on behalf of her husband."PRD", Diario de Notícias, 30 May 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2023."Actualidade Política – Parte II", RTP, 3 October 1985. Retrieved 4 July 2026.

Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs PS « O que prometo, faço. Vamos a isto. » "What I promise, I do. Let's do this." PSD « Retomar a esperança » "Resuming hope" APU « Vitória da APU para salvar o país » "Victory for APU to save the country" CDS « Confiança, razão, força para Portugal » "Trust, reason, strength for Portugal" PRD « Mais Portugal » "More Portugal"

Candidates' debates 1985 Portuguese legislative election debates Date Organisers Moderator(s) PS PSD APU CDS Refs 3 Sep RTP1 Mário CrespoPAPP 5 Sep RTP1 Mário CrespoNAPP 10 Sep RTP1 Mário CrespoPPNP 12 Sep RTP1 Mário CrespoPPPN DateOrganisersPolling firm/Link PS PSD APU CDS Notes 3 Sep RTP1 Expresso 36 23 25

Opinion polling

The following table shows the opinion polls of voting intention of the Portuguese voters before the election. Included is also the result of the Portuguese general elections in 1983 and 1985 for reference.

1985 Portuguese legislative election

Bron en licentie