1987 Portuguese legislative election

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 (PSD) received the most votes and managed to form a minority government, remaining in power thanks to the confidence and supply of the Democratic and Social Center (CDS) and the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), but after a motion of no confidence presented by left-wing parties was approved, the government fell and a new election was called.

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 the first time since the Carnation Revolution that a single party won an absolute majority. Although the PSD was leading in voting intentions going into the election, the size of its victory far exceeded the party's most optimistic expectations."Eleições 87 – Parte III", RTP Arquivos, 19 July 1987. Retrieved 21 May 2026. The PSD won every district with the exception of Setúbal, Évora and Beja, which voted for the CDU.

The Socialist Party (PS) 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 Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU) lost some ground, minus seven MPs and a drop to 12 percent, while the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), now led by former President António Ramalho Eanes, lost all of its influence, mainly due to its responsibility in the fall of the PSD minority government. The right-wing Democratic and Social Center (CDS) 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 Despite being able to form a minority government after the 1985 election, Cavaco's term was quite tense, with many conflicts between the government and the opposition in Parliament, and notwithstanding the approval of two state budgets, several of the policy reforms proposed by the government were rejected."A "década de betão" do cavaquismo", RTP, 7 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2026. Just a few weeks after Cavaco took office, Portugal officially became a member state of the European Economic Community, spurring a major transformation of the country's economy.

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 Cavaco Silva's minority government. In April, Parliament approved, by 134 votes to 108, a motion of no confidence proposed by PRD, and the government fell. President Mário Soares rejected the opposition's proposal for an alternative PS-PRD-CDU government, deciding instead to dissolve Parliament and call a snap election.

Leadership changes and challenges

Democratic and Social Center The 1985 general election results were quite disappointing for CDS, and then party leader Francisco Lucas Pires resigned from the leadership."Histórica CDS-PP", CDS-PP. Retrieved 6 June 2022. 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."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. Adriano Moreira was elected new party leader by an 82-vote difference."Adriano Moreira completa hoje 90 anos", TSF, 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022. The results were the following:

Socialist Party For the 1985 general election, the PS nominated António Almeida Santos as prime ministerial candidate, while an interim leadership, headed by António Macedo, ran the party, but the Socialists achieved their worst result ever, just 20.8 percent."Quando o candidato do PS não foi o líder", Diario de Notícias, 3 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2022. A few months later, the PS supported 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."1986, o ano de "Soares é fixe"", TSF, 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022. After that victory, the party called a congress to elect a new leader for late June 1986. There were two candidates on the ballot, Vítor Constâncio and Jaime Gama."20 Anos Acção Socialista 1978-1998", Socialist Party, 1998. Retrieved 3 January 2023. Vítor Constâncio was elected as new party leader."Vítor Constâncio (n.1943)", Centro Documentação 25 de Abril. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

Democratic Renewal Party The Democratic Renewal Party surprised with their excellent result in the 1985 election, winning almost 18 percent of the votes."PRD é a surpresa das legislativas de 1985 ", RTP, 8 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2022. 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."Convenção do PRD – Parte I", RTP, 21 October 1986. Retrieved 1 September 2025."Perfil. Os 90 anos de Ramalho Eanes", Observador, 25 January 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025."Partido Renovador Democrático (1985) - Jose Adelino Maltez", maltez.info. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

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 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 Seats atdissolution % Seats PPD/PSD Social Democratic Party Centre-right Aníbal Cavaco Silva 29.9% PS Socialist Party Social democracy Centre-left Vítor Constâncio 20.8% PRD Democratic Renewal Party CentrismThird Way António Ramalho Eanes 17.9% PCP Portuguese Communist Party CommunismMarxism–Leninism Far-left Álvaro Cunhal15.5% MDP/CDE Portuguese Democratic Movement Left-wing nationalismDemocratic socialism Left-wing José Manuel Tengarrinha CDS Democratic and Social Centre Christian democracyConservatism Adriano Moreira 10.0% Ind. IndependentGonçalo Ribeiro Telles Maria Amélia Santos Rui Oliveira e Costa

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 Issues The campaign was dominated by the need for stability, the country had 16 governments since 1974, a booming economy and falling inflation. The Social Democratic Party (PSD), under the leadership of Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, campaigned on the strong economy and the need for a stable government to enact reforms, warning of "hard times" if no stability was reached. The Socialist Party (PS) ran under the motto that only they could stop the "reactionary" Social Democrats, as party leader Vítor Constâncio put it, while the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) accused Cavaco Silva of being arrogant. On the left-wing, the campaign was also marked by the dissolution of the United People Alliance (APU), following internal tensions with the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP) in 1986, and the formation of a new coalition, the Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU).

Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs PSD « Portugal não pode parar » "Portugal cannot stop" PS « A alternativa » "The alternative" CDU « CDU, É melhor para Portugal » "CDU, It's better for Portugal" PRD « Agora Portugal » "Now Portugal" 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.

1987 Portuguese legislative election

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