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1987 Portuguese legislative election

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Field	Value
election_name	1987 Portuguese legislative election
country	Portugal
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1985 Portuguese legislative election
previous_year	1985
next_election	1991 Portuguese legislative election
next_year	1991
seats_for_election	All 250 seats in the Assembly of the Republic
majority_seats	126
registered	7,930,668 1.4%
turnout	5,676,358 (71.6%)
2.6 pp
election_date	19 July 1987
image1
leader1	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
party1	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
leader_since1	2 June 1985
leaders_seat1	Lisbon
last_election1	88 seats, 29.9%
seats1	148
seat_change1	60
popular_vote1	2,850,784
percentage1	50.2%
swing1	20.3 pp
image2
leader2	Vítor Constâncio
party2	Socialist Party (Portugal)
leader_since2	29 June 1986
leaders_seat2	Lisbon
last_election2	57 seats, 20.8%
seats2	60
seat_change2	3
popular_vote2	1,262,506
percentage2	22.2%
swing2	1.4 pp
image3
leader3	Álvaro Cunhal
party3	Portuguese Communist Party
alliance3	Unitary Democratic Coalition
leader_since3	30 September 1987
leaders_seat3	Lisbon
last_election3	38 seats, 15.5%
seats3	31
seat_change3	7
popular_vote3	689,137
percentage3	12.1%
swing3	3.4 pp
image4
leader4	Ramalho Eanes
party4	Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal)
leader_since4	29 April 1986
leaders_seat4	Lisbon
last_election4	45 seats, 17.9%
seats4	7
seat_change4	38
popular_vote4	278,561
percentage4	4.9%
swing4	13.0 pp
image5
leader5	Adriano Moreira
party5	CDS – People's Party
leader_since5	13 April 1986
leaders_seat5	Lisbon
last_election5	22 seats, 10.0%
seats5	4
seat_change5	18
popular_vote5	251,987
percentage5	4.4%
swing5	5.6 pp
<!-- Map -->	title	Prime Minister
posttitle	Prime Minister after election
before_election	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
before_party	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
after_election	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
after_party	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
map	{{Switcher
outgoing_members	[outgoing members](4th-legislature-of-the-third-portuguese-republic)
elected_members	[elected members](5th-legislature-of-the-third-portuguese-republic)

2.6 pp

The 1987 Portuguese legislative election took place on 19 July. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic.

In the previous election, in 1985, the Social Democratic Party had won a minority government managing to survive in coalition with the Democratic and Social Center and the Democratic Renewal Party, and after the approval of a no-confidence motion from the left-wing parties, with the aid of the Democratic Renewal Party, the government fell. The PS tried to form a new government with the support of the PRD and CDU, but Mário Soares, the President at the time, rejected the idea and called for a new election.

The PSD was reelected in a landslide, winning a majority government with just over 50 percent of the votes and 148 of the 250 seats, a majority of 46. Not only was this the most seats that a Portuguese party had ever won in a free election, but it was first time since the Carnation Revolution that a single party won an absolute majority. Although the PSD was very popular going into the election, the size of its victory far exceeded the party's most optimistic expectations. The PSD won every district with the exception of Setúbal, Évora and Beja, which voted for the CDU.

The Socialist Party gained a few seats and got a slightly higher share of the vote, 22 percent compared with the almost 21 percent in 1985, but the scale of the PSD victory made the party lose most of its influence. Like in 1979, 1980 and 1985, the PS failed to win a single district. The left-wing Democratic Unity Coalition lost some of its MPs to the Socialist Party and the Democratic Renewal Party, now led by former President António Ramalho Eanes, lost almost all of its influence, mainly due to its responsibility in the fall of the former PSD minority government. The right-wing Democratic and Social Center lost almost half of its vote share, due to the effect of tactical voting for the also right-wing, Social Democratic Party.

European elections were held on the same day.

Background

Fall of the government

In the first months of 1987, a trip of a Portuguese parliamentary delegation to the Soviet Union, which also passed by Estonia, a territory that wasn't recognized by Portugal as under Soviet control, created a diplomatic issue that was used by the Opposition to bring down the Cavaco Silva minority government. Parliament approved, by a 134 to 108 vote, a motion of no confidence and the government fell. President Mário Soares refused an alternative PS-PRD-PCP government and decided to dissolve Parliament and call a snap election.

Leadership changes and challenges

CDS 1986 leadership election

The 1985 general election results were quite disappointing for CDS, and then party leader Francisco Lucas Pires resigned from the leadership. Adriano Moreira, supported by the more conservative wings, and João Morais Leitão, supported by the more "centrist" wings of the party, were the two candidates running for the leadership in the April 1986 congress. Adriano Moreira was elected new party leader by an 82-vote difference. The results are the following: |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

-
-
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
-
}

PS 1986 leadership election

In the 1985 general election the PS nominated António Almeida Santos, while an internal leadership, head by António Macedo, ruled the party, but the Socialists achieved their worst result ever, just 20.8 percent. The PS candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Mário Soares, was narrowly elected to that post by a 51 to 49 percent margin against Diogo Freitas do Amaral, the candidate supported by CDS and PSD. After that victory, the party called a party congress, for late June 1986, to elect a new leader. There were two candidates on the ballot, Vítor Constâncio and Jaime Gama. Vítor Constâncio was elected as new party leader. |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

-
-
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
-
}

PRD 1986 leadership election

The Democratic Renewal Party surprised with their excellent results in the 1985 elections, winning almost 18 percent of the votes. António Ramalho Eanes, the main figure and inspiration for PRD, left the post of President of the Republic in March 1986, and, a few months later, in October of the same year, was unanimously elected as the new leader of the PRD, succeeding Hermínio Martinho. |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

-
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
-
}

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.

For these elections, and compared with the 1985 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:

District	Number of MPs	Map
Lisbon	56
Porto	39
Braga and Setúbal	17
Aveiro	15
Santarém	12
Leiria and Coimbra	11
Viseu	10
Faro	9
Castelo Branco, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real	6
Azores, Beja, Guarda and Madeira	5
Bragança and Évora	4
Portalegre	3
Europe and Outside Europe	2

Parties

The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the 4th legislature (1985–1987) and that also partook in the election:

Name	Ideology	Political position	Leader	1985 result
dissolution	%	Seats
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}};"		PPD/PSD	Social Democratic Party
Partido Social Democrata	Liberal conservatism
Classical liberalism	Centre-right	Aníbal Cavaco Silva	29.9%
Socialist Party (Portugal)}};"		PS	Socialist Party
Partido Socialista	Social democracy	Centre-left	Vítor Constâncio	20.8%
Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal)}};"		PRD	Democratic Renewal Party
Partido Renovador Democrático	Centrism
Third Way	Centre	António Ramalho Eanes	17.9%
	PCP	Portuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista Português	Communism
Marxism–Leninism	Far-left	Álvaro Cunhal	15.5%

Democratic Electoral Commission}};"		MDP/CDE	Portuguese Democratic Movement
Movimento Democrático Português	Left-wing nationalism
Democratic socialism	Left-wing	José Manuel Tengarrinha
CDS – People's Party}};"		CDS	Democratic and Social Centre
Centro Democrático e Social	Christian democracy
Conservatism	Centre-right
to right-wing	Adriano Moreira	10.0%
Independent}};"		Ind.	Independent
Independente	Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles (left the Socialist Party caucus)
Maria Amélia Santos (left the Portuguese Communist Party caucus)
Rui Oliveira e Costa (left the Social Democratic Party caucus)

Seat changes

On 16 November 1985, MP Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles, elected in the Socialist Party list for Porto, left the party and became an Independent, following the agreement he made with the party in order to be elected.
Also on 16 November 1985, MP Maria Amélia Santos, elected in the United People Alliance list for Lisbon, became an Independent representing the Ecologist Party "The Greens".
On 24 June 1986, MP Rui Oliveira e Costa, elected in the Social Democratic Party list for Lisbon, became an Independent after leaving the PSD caucus following disagreements with the party's leadership regarding policy and the 1986 Presidential election.

Campaign period

Party slogans

Party or alliance	English translation	Refs
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"	PSD	« Portugal não pode parar »	"Portugal cannot stop"
Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"	PS	« A alternativa »	"The alternative"
Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"	CDU	« CDU, É melhor para Portugal »	"CDU, It's better for Portugal"
Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal)}}"	PRD	« Agora Portugal »	"Now Portugal"
CDS – People's Party}}"	CDS	« Vote prá maioria »	"Vote for the majority"

Candidates' debates

No debates between the main parties were held as the PSD leader and Prime Minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, refused to take part in any debate.

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 1985 and 1987 for reference.

Polling firm/Link	Date Released	[[File:PSD (1987-1996).png	38px	link=Social Democratic Party (Portugal)	PSD]]	PS	[[File:Logotipo do PRD.png	30px
1987 legislative election	19 Jul 1987	50.2
22.2
4.9
12.1
4.4
6.2
28.0
[RTP1](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	19 Jul 1987	48–50	21–23	5–7	12.5–14.5	3–5	–	27
[Antena1](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	19 Jul 1987	45–47	24–25	–	–	–	–	21–22
[Rádio Comercial](http://socialdatalab.pt/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sondagens.pdf)	19 Jul 1987	50.1	21.9	5.7	12.1	4.0	6.2	28.2
[Euroexpansão](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	17 Jul 1987	41–44	22–25	11–14	13–15	4–6	–	19
[Euroexpansão](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	17 Jul 1987	50.1	22.5	5.0	12.5	4.4	–	27.6
[Euroexpansão](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	10 Jul 1987	47.5	20.8	5.0	11.4	4.4	–	26.7
[Euroexpansão](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	3 Jul 1987	41.2	18.3	4.6	11.2	3.5	–	22.9
[Euroexpansão](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	26 Jun 1987	38.1	16.5	3.9	7.8	3.3	–	21.6
[Euroexpansão](https://repositorio.ipl.pt/bitstream/10400.21/2932/1/tese_doutoramento.pdf)	14 Mar 1987	41.3	27.2	11.1	8.8	7.5	4.1	14.1
[Euroexpansão](https://repositorio.ipl.pt/bitstream/10400.21/2932/1/tese_doutoramento.pdf)	Feb 1987	41.7	28.8	11.5	8.6	5.5	3.9	12.9
[Euroexpansão](http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2401/1/TSIG0039.pdf)	Jun 1986	41.0	?	?	?	?	?	?
[Tempo](http://analisesocial.ics.ul.pt/documentos/1223396225B2sTT1xm2Ux88KH7.pdf)	9 Oct 1986	35.6	24.8	9.2		9.8	–	10.8
[1985 local elections](1985-portuguese-local-elections)	15 Dec 1985	34.2	27.6	4.7	19.6	9.8	4.1	6.6
[1985 legislative election](1985-portuguese-legislative-election)	6 Oct 1985	29.9
20.8
17.9
15.5
10.0
5.9
9.1

Results

National summary

Distribution by constituency

2.3
3.0
-
3.3
-
5
-
11
22.9
4
4.4
-
2.7
-
5.3
-
15
-
24.5
1
20.3
1
3
5.7
-
2.0
-
5
-
10
25.9
5
6.1
1
3.3
-
5.9
1
17
-
3
19.2
1
3.2
-
1.3
-
7.6
-
4
-
4
22.4
2
7.1
-
6.0
-
4.7
-
6
-
6
28.7
4
7.2
1
3.5
-
4.5
-
11
-
32.1
2
15.4
-
2
7.7
-
2.1
-
4
-
5
24.9
3
10.9
1
6.3
-
3.1
-
9
-
4
21.8
1
3.3
-
2.0
-
6.6
-
5
-
9
18.7
2
5.9
-
3.0
-
6.0
-
11
-
28
21.2
12
16.5
10
6.9
4
3.7
2
56
-
4
16.2
1
1.9
-
3.3
-
5.2
-
5
-
1
25.1
1
20.9
1
6.3
-
3.1
-
3
-
22
26.7
11
9.4
4
4.0
1
4.0
1
39
-
7
21.7
3
12.6
1
7.3
1
3.6
-
12
-
32.6
6
17.6
3
7
8.7
1
1.9
-
17
-
5
20.3
1
6.3
-
4.8
-
7.7
-
6
-
5
20.3
1
4.1
-
1.4
-
5.0
-
6
-
8
17.9
2
2.9
-
1.7
-
7.0
-
10
-
1
28.4
1
15.9
-
4.9
-
6.6
-
2
-
2
7.3
-
1.4
-
1.7
-
19.9
-
2
-
- class="unsortable" style="background:#E9E9E9"
148
22.2
60
12.1
31
4.9
7
4.4
4
250
-
}

Maps

File:1987 Partido Mais Votado.png|Most voted political force by district (Azores and Madeira not shown). File:1987 Portuguese legislative election district results.svg|Winner and seats by constituency. File:Legislativas portuguesas de 1987 (Mapa).png|Most voted political force by municipality.

Notes

| The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE) contested the 1985 election in a coalition called United People Alliance (APU) and won a combined 15.5% of the vote and elected 39 MPs to parliament.

| In 1985, as United People Alliance.

| Portuguese Communist Party (29 MPs) and "The Greens" (2 MPs) ran in coalition.

References

[https://ionline.sapo.pt/artigo/624225/1987-da-mocao-de-censura-a-primeira-maioria-de-cavaco-?seccao=Portugal "1987. Da moção de censura à primeira maioria de Cavaco"], ''Jornal i'', 30 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
(30 August 2018). "1987. Da moção de censura à primeira maioria de Cavaco". Jornal i.
(20 February 2019). "A única moção de censura e as duas moções de rejeição que derrubaram governos". Jornal Económico.
(16 October 2015). "Crise. Soares dissolveu em 1987. Cavaco não o pode fazer em 2015". Jornal i.
[https://www.cds.pt/historia.html "Histórica CDS-PP"], ''CDS-PP''. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
[http://analisesocial.ics.ul.pt/documentos/1223396163T3dDP4zc0Vt79YR2.pdf "Do CDS ao CDS-PP: o Partido do Centro Democrático Social e o seu papel na política portuguesa"], ''Richard A. H. Robinson'', 1996. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
[https://www.tsf.pt/vida/adriano-moreira-completa-hoje-90-anos-2754802.html "Adriano Moreira completa hoje 90 anos"], ''TSF'', 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
[https://www.dn.pt/politica/quando-o-candidato-do-ps-nao-foi-o-lider-3950902.html "Quando o candidato do PS não foi o líder"], ''Diario de Notícias'', 3 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
[https://www.tsf.pt/politica/1986-o-ano-de-soares-e-fixe-5577128.html "1986, o ano de "Soares é fixe""], ''TSF'', 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
[https://as.ps.pt/pdf/1998/accao997-sup.pdf "20 Anos Acção Socialista 1978-1998"], ''Socialist Party'', 1998. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
[http://www1.ci.uc.pt/cd25a/wikka.php?wakka=constanc "Vítor Constâncio (n.1943)"], ''Centro Documentação 25 de Abril''. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
[https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/politica/prd-e-a-surpresa-das-legislativas-de-1985_v853563 "PRD é a surpresa das legislativas de 1985 "], ''RTP'', 8 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
[https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/convencao-do-prd-parte-i/ "Convenção do PRD – Parte I"], ''RTP'', 21 October 1986. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
[https://observador.pt/2025/01/25/eanes-90-anos-o-comandante-operacional-do-25-de-novembro-que-foi-o-1-o-presidente-eleito-em-democracia/ "Perfil. Os 90 anos de Ramalho Eanes"], ''Observador'', 25 January 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
[https://maltez.info/respublica/portugalpolitico/grupospoliticos/partido_renovador_democratico.htm "Partido Renovador Democrático (1985) - Jose Adelino Maltez"], ''maltez.info''. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
"Constitution of the Portuguese Republic".
"Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin.
Gallaher, Michael (1992). "[https://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/staff/michael_gallagher/BJPS1992.pdf Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes and Majorities]"
"Eleição da Assembleia da República de 19 de Julho de 1987". CNE - Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Eleição da Assembleia da República de 19 de Julho de 1987.
"Deputado Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles".
"Deputado Maria Santos".
"Deputado Rui Oliveira e Costa".
(13 August 1985). "Almeida Santos apresenta listas e defende revisão da Constituição".
(4 January 2017). "Os Verdes. O "partido melancia" ganhou mais influência no poder". [[Observador]].
(9 November 2021). "Morreu Rui Oliveira e Costa, politólogo e adepto fervoroso do Sporting". Público.
"ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1987 – PSD". EPHEMERA.
"Evolução da Comunicação Política e Eleitoral em Portugal".
"ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1987 – CDU – AUTOCOLANTES". EPHEMERA.
"Campanha eleitoral do PRD". RTP.
"ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1987 – CDS". EPHEMERA.
(4 September 2009). "O que mudam os debates na TV". Correio da Manhã.

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