2013 Portuguese local elections

The Portuguese local elections of 2013 took place on 29 September. The elections consisted of three types of elections in the 308 Portuguese municipalities, namely the elections for the Municipal Chambers, whose winners are elected mayors, the elections for the Municipal Assemblies, as well as the elections for the lower-level Parish Assemblies, whose winners are elected parish presidents. The latter were held separately in the more than 3,000 parishes around the country. The number of parishes had been reduced by over 1000 due to a local government reform undertaken by the Government led by Pedro Passos Coelho.

2013 Portuguese local elections

← 2009 29 September 2013 2017 →
All 308 Portuguese municipalities and 3,092^[1] Portuguese Parishes All 2,086 local government councils
Opinion polls
Turnout	52.6% 6.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader António José Seguro Pedro Passos Coelho Jerónimo de Sousa Party PS PSD PCP Alliance CDU Last election 132 mayors, 37.7% 139 mayors, 38.7% 28 mayors, 9.8% Popular vote 1,835,288^[2] 1,570,601^[3] 552,690 Percentage 36.7% 31.4% 11.1% Swing 1.0 pp 7.3 pp 1.3 pp Mayors 150^[4] 106^[5] 34 Mayors +/– 18 33 6 Councillors 929^[6] 770^[7] 213 Councillors +/– 8 103^[8] 39

The process of submitting candidacies for these elections was marked by differences in the interpretation of the pertinent electoral law. This law prohibits a candidate, after having served for three terms, to run for Mayor, Municipal Assemblies or Parish Assemblies. But the law does not explicitly state whether it prohibits reelection only for the same municipality or parish, or for the same position in any municipality or parish. Candidates affected by this issue included Luís Filipe Menezes (PSD), running in Porto, and Fernando Seara (PSD/CDS–PP), who was standing in Lisbon.

This controversy ended on 5 September 2013 with the decision of the Constitutional Court allowing mayoral candidates that had already served three consecutive mandates to run for election in a different municipality.^[9] With the term limit law, 52% of incumbent mayors, 160 to be precise, were barred from running for another term.^[10]

The Socialist Party (PS) won the largest number of municipal chambers in its history surpassing its previous best result in 2009. It also won the largest number of mayorships of any party in the history of Portugal.^[11] The PS also reconquered Coimbra and won in two large strongholds of the Social Democratic Party, Vila Real and Funchal.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) was the biggest loser of these elections, as it lost almost a third of the municipalities that it had held. However, the PSD did gain several traditionally Socialist bastions like Braga and Guarda. The communist Democratic Unity Coalition won in the cities of Loures, Beja and Évora.

The election was also marked by the strong electoral performances of various independent groups, which won several chambers. The most significant was the victory of independent Rui Moreira in Porto, who was supported by CDS-PP. The Democratic Unity Coalition increased its number of municipal chambers as well as its number of councilors by winning several chambers previously held by the Socialists, including winning back their historical stronghold of Loures. However, despite increasing their overall number of mayors, they also lost three chambers they won in 2009 to the Socialists; Chamusca, Crato, and Nisa. In Chamusca they had held the mayorship since 1979.

The People's Party (CDS-PP) broke a cycle of decline in local elections and won five municipalities, four more than in 2009. The Left Bloc suffered a heavy defeat, losing the only chamber they had, and electing fewer councillors than in 2009.

The turnout in these elections was the lowest ever, with 52.6% of voters casting their ballot.

Parties

 

Official logo of the election.

The main political forces that contested the election were:

• Left Bloc (BE)
• People's Party (CDS–PP) (only in some municipalities)¹
• Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU)
• Socialist Party (PS)
• Social Democratic Party (PSD) (only in some municipalities)¹

¹ The PSD and the CDS–PP also formed coalitions in several municipalities with the Earth Party (MPT) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM).

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2013 Portuguese local elections

Voter turnout

The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day.

Turnout	Time
	12:00			16:00			19:00
	2009	2013	±	2009	2013	±	2009	2013	±
Total	21.23%	19.44%	1.79 pp	45.30%	43.43%	1.87 pp	59.03%	52.60%	6.43 pp
Sources^[12]^[13]

Results

Municipal Councils

Main article: Results breakdown of the 2013 Portuguese local elections (municipal councils)

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 29 September 2013 Municipal Councils elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Councillors		Mayors
						Total	±	Total	±
	Socialist	1,812,029	36.26	1.4	303	923	2	149	17
	Social Democratic	834,455	16.70	6.3	201	531	135	86	31
	Democratic Unity Coalition	552,690	11.06	1.3	288	213	39	34	6
	Social Democratic / People's	379,110	7.59	2.1	73	154	3	16	3
	Independents	344,531	6.89	2.8	94	112	45	13	6
	People's	152,073	3.04	0.1	143	47	16	5	4
	Left Bloc	120,982	2.42	0.6	109	8	1	0	1
	PSD / CDS–PP / MPT	100,437	2.01	2.0	6	11	2	0	0
	PSD / CDS–PP / PPM	94,015	1.88	0.1	4	21	6	2	1
	PSD / PPM	65,102	1.30	—	7	21	—	1	—
	PSD / PPM / MPT	43,312	0.87	—	7	7	—	0	—
	PSD/ CDS–PP / MPT / PPM	23,551	0.47	2.5	4	14	7	1	0
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	23,276	0.47	0.3	27	0	0	0	0
	PS / BE / PND / MPT / PTP / PAN	21,102	0.42	—	1	5	—	1	—
	PSD / MPT / PPM	19,804	0.40	—	4	4	—	0	—
	Party for Animals and Nature	16,233	0.32	—	8	0	—	0	—
	CDS–PP / MPT / PPM	9,299	0.19	—	7	1	—	0	—
	PSD/ CDS–PP / PPM / MPT	8,918	0.18	1.1	4	4	5	0	1
	Labour	8,552	0.17	—	22	0	—	0	—
	Earth	6,660	0.13	0.1	8	2	0	0	0
	People's / Social Democratic	4,656	0.09	—	4	4	—	0	—
	PPM / PND / PPV	3,634	0.07	—	1	0	—	0	—
	National Renovator	3,002	0.06	0.1	6	0	0	0	0
	People's / Earth	2,931	0.06	0.1	3	0	0	0	0
	PS / PTP / PND / BE	2,157	0.04	—	1	1	—	0	—
	Social Democratic / Earth	1,897	0.04	—	2	3	—	0	—
	New Democracy	1,272	0.03	0.1	1	0	1	0	0
	People's Monarchist / PPV	856	0.02	—	1	0	—	0	—
	People's Monarchist	455	0.01	0.0	1	0	0	0	0
	Portugal Pro-Life	338	0.01	—	1	0	—	0	—
Total valid		4,657,329	93.18	3.8	—	2,086	8	308	0
Blank ballots		193,471	3.87	2.2
Invalid ballots		147,205	2.95	1.7
Total		4,998,005	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,501,103	52.60	6.4
Source: Autárquicas 2013 Resultados Oficiais

Municipality map

 

Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality.
Municipalities won by:
■ - PS: 150
■ - PSD: 86
■ - CDU: 34
■ - CDS–PP: 5
■ - PSD coalitions: 20
■ - Independents: 13

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from 2013.^[14]

Municipality	Population	Previous control		New control
Almada	170,756		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Amadora	175,354		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Aveiro	77,229		PSD / CDS–PP		PSD / CDS–PP / PPM
Barcelos	119,563		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Beja	35,024		Socialist Party (PS)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Braga	181,847		Socialist Party (PS)		PSD / CDS–PP / PPM
Bragança	34,681		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Cascais	208,514		PSD / CDS–PP		PSD / CDS–PP
Castelo Branco	54,409		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Coimbra	136,964		PSD / CDS–PP / PPM		Socialist Party (PS)
Évora	55,053		Socialist Party (PS)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Faro	61,749		PSD / CDS–PP / PPM / MPT		PSD / CDS–PP / PPM / MPT
Funchal	108,053		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		PS / BE / PND / MPT / PTP / PAN
Gondomar	167,525		Independent (IND)		Socialist Party (PS)
Guarda	40,994		Socialist Party (PS)		PSD / CDS–PP
Guimarães	156,310		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Leiria	125,977		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Lisbon	516,815		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Loures	203,117		Socialist Party (PS)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Maia	135,924		PSD / CDS–PP		PSD / CDS–PP
Matosinhos	174,690		Socialist Party (PS)		Independent (IND)
Odivelas	151,012		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras	172,556		Independent (IND)		Independent (IND)
Ponta Delgada	68,768		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Portalegre	23,915		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Independent (IND)
Porto	222,252		PSD / CDS–PP		Independent (IND)
Santarém	60,257		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Santa Maria da Feira	140,038		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Seixal	162,516		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Setúbal	118,689		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Sintra	379,756		PSD / CDS–PP / PPM / MPT		Socialist Party (PS)
Viana do Castelo	87,243		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Franca de Xira	139,110		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Nova de Famalicão	133,711		PSD / CDS–PP		PSD / CDS–PP
Vila Nova de Gaia	302,828		PSD / CDS–PP		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Real	51,009		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Socialist Party (PS)
Viseu	98,424		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 29 September 2013 Municipal Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Mandates
						Total	±
	Socialist	1,746,819	34.95	1.7		2,659	196
	Social Democratic	813,835	16.28	5.9		1,588	536
	Democratic Unity Coalition	599,029	11.98	1.4		747	96
	Social Democratic / People's	376,056	7.52	1.8		493	29
	Independents	325,724	6.52	2.8		352	128
	People's	159,921	3.20	0.3		224	29
	Left Bloc	157,686	3.15	1.0		100	39
	PSD / CDS–PP / MPT	106,725	2.14	2.1		42	36
	PSD / CDS–PP / PPM	88,393	1.77	0.0		72	12
	PSD / PPM	60,873	1.22	—		57	—
	PSD / PPM / MPT	41,307	0.83	—		18	—
	Party for Animals and Nature	23,776	0.48	—		5	—
	PSD/ CDS–PP / MPT / PPM	22,420	0.45	2.5		37	28
	PS / BE / PND / MPT / PTP / PAN	20,849	0.42	—		14	—
	PSD / MPT / PPM	19,850	0.40	—		11	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	15,393	0.31	0.2		2	2
	CDS–PP / MPT / PPM	9,949	0.20	—		9	—
	PSD/ CDS–PP / PPM / MPT	8,886	0.18	1.0		10	12
	Earth	5,525	0.11	0.1		11	3
	People's / Social Democratic	4,647	0.09	—		17	—
	PPM / PND / PPV	4,451	0.09	—		0	—
	Labour	4,102	0.08	—		3	—
	People's / Earth	3,384	0.07	0.1		3	3
	National Renovator	3,247	0.06	0.1		0	0
	PS / PTP / PND / BE	2,101	0.04	—		3	—
	Social Democratic / Earth	2,008	0.04	—		8	—
	New Democracy	1,505	0.03	0.1		0	5
	People's Monarchist / PPV	1,046	0.02	—		0	—
	People's Monarchist	445	0.01	0.0		2	3
Total valid		4,629,952	92.63	4.1	—	6,487	459
Blank ballots		215,489	4.31	2.3
Invalid ballots		153,068	3.06	1.8
Total		4,998,509	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,501,103	52.61	6.4
Source: Autárquicas 2013 Resultados Oficiais

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 29 September 2013 Parish Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Mandates		Presidents
						Total	±	Total	±
	Socialist	1,733,687	34.69	1.6		10,838	2,898	1,282	295
	Social Democratic	815,086	16.31	6.1		6,927	4,186	912	618
	Democratic Unity Coalition	596,324	11.93	1.0		1,973	293	170	43
	Independents	478,273	9.57	3.5		2,978	305	342	10
	Social Democratic / People's	363,145	7.27	1.9		2,096	815	222	90
	People's	139,304	2.79	0.5		725	33	50	3
	Left Bloc	115,191	2.30	0.7		138	97	0	4
	PSD / CDS–PP / MPT	111,571	2.23	2.2		322	293	18	16
	PSD / CDS–PP / PPM	81,096	1.62	0.2		453	48	44	8
	PSD / PPM	55,186	1.10	—		251	—	21	—
	PSD / PPM / MPT	44,661	0.89	—		91	—	6	—
	PSD / MPT / PPM	19,908	0.40	—		39	—	2	—
	PSD/ CDS–PP / MPT / PPM	19,397	0.39	2.5		88	296	3	28
	PS / BE / PND / MPT / PTP / PAN	18,967	0.38	—		53	—	5	—
	CDS–PP / MPT / PPM	8,966	0.18	—		12	—	0	—
	PSD/ CDS–PP / PPM / MPT	8,344	0.17	0.9		44	124	2	13
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	8,003	0.16	0.1		2	2	0	0
	PPM / PND / PPV	4,729	0.09	—		0	—	0	—
	Earth	4,569	0.09	0.1		18	29	0	2
	People's / Social Democratic	4,303	0.09	—		63	—	5	—
	Party for Animals and Nature	4,001	0.08	—		1	—	0	—
	Labour	2,681	0.05	—		1	—	0	—
	New Democracy	2,670	0.05	0.1		5	2	0	0
	Social Democratic / Earth	2,123	0.04	—		27	—	1	—
	PS / PTP / PND / BE	2,085	0.04	—		7	—	0	—
	People's / Earth	1,610	0.03	0.0		4	1	0	0
	National Renovator	716	0.01	0.0		0	0	0	0
	People's Monarchist	549	0.01	0.0		11	8	0	0
	Communist	57	0.00	—		0	—	0	—
	People's Monarchist / PPV	47	0.00	—		0	—	0	—
Total valid		4,647,249	92.99	3.4	—	27,167	7,505	3,085	1,022
Blank ballots		194,978	3.90	1.8
Invalid ballots		155,271	3.11	1.6
Total		4,997,498	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,500,202	52.60	6.4
Source: Autárquicas 2013 Resultados Oficiais

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal

References

1. DGAI - Reorganização Administrativa do Território das Freguesias - (RATF)
2. Sum of votes between PS-only lists and lists with other parties.
3. Sum of votes between PSD-only lists and lists with other parties.
4. Number of municipalities won between PS-only lists and lists with other parties. PS-only lists: 149; PS-coalition lists: 1.
5. Number of municipalities won between PSD-only lists and lists with other parties. PSD-only lists: 86; PSD-coalition lists: 20.
6. This accounts for seats won on PS-only lists and lists with other parties. The PS ran on joint lists in two municipalities in this election, and ran joint lists in no municipalities in 2009. In the municipalities where they ran on joint lists, those lists received a combined 6 seats.
7. This accounts for seats won on PSD-only lists and lists with other parties.
8. This decrease is also relative to the number of seats won on PSD-only lists and lists with other parties in 2009.
9. Público (5 September 2013). "Tribunal Constitucional dá luz verde aos candidatos autárquicos com três mandatos". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 September 2013.
10. "Limitação de mandatos autárquicos renovou poder local em 2013". www.rtp.pt/ (in Portuguese). RTP. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
11. New relationship of trust between Portuguese people and PS, says Seguro. Expresso (in Portuguese.) Retrieved 30 September 2013.
12. "Autárquicas 2013 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/autarquicas2013/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
13. "Autárquicas 2009 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/autarquicas2009/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
14. "População residente 2013". www.ine.pt (in Portuguese). Statistics Portugal. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

External links

• Portuguese Electoral Commission
• ERC - Official publication of polls