2008 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

The 2008 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 31 May 2008. This was a snap leadership election following the surprise resignation of then party leader Luís Filipe Menezes, elected just seven months before in September 2007, from the party's leadership.[1]

2008 Social Democratic Party leadership election
Social Democratic Party
← 2007 31 May 2008 2010 →
Turnout59.1% Decrease3.3 pp
 
Manuela Ferreira Leite.jpg
Pedro Passos Coelho (9298463251)cropped.jpg
Pedro Santana Lopes 01.jpg
Candidate Manuela Ferreira Leite Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Santana Lopes
Popular vote 17,278 14,160 13,495
Percentage 37.9% 31.1% 29.6%

Leader before election

Luís Filipe Menezes

Elected Leader

Manuela Ferreira Leite

Menezes was facing heavy internal criticism for his leadership and opposition strategy but, nonetheless, his resignation surprised party members and structures.[2] Four candidates entered in this snap race: Manuela Ferreira Leite, Pedro Passos Coelho, Pedro Santana Lopes and Mário Patinha Antão.

On election day, Ferreira Leite won the leadership by capturing almost 38% of the votes, while Passos Coelho got 31% of the votes and Santana Lopes polled just below 30%.[3] Patinha Antão polled well below 1%, just 0.7% of the party members votes.

Manuela Ferreira Leite became the first woman to lead a major political party in Portuguese history.[4]

Ferreira Leite would lead the PSD to victory in the 2009 European Parliament election in Portugal,[5] but was defeated in the 2009 general elections held in the fall of the same year.[6]

Candidates

edit
Name Born Experience Announcement date Ref.
 
Pedro Passos Coelho
24 August 1964
(age 43)
Coimbra

Social Democratic Youth leader (1990–1995)
Member of Parliament for Lisbon (1991–1999)
18 April 2008 [7]
Patinha Antão 26 June 1945
(age 62)
Loulé
Member of Parliament for Braga (1999–2002)
Member of Parliament for Faro (2002–2009)
21 April 2008 [8]
 
Pedro Santana Lopes
29 June 1956
(age 52)
Lisbon
Prime Minister (2004-2005)
President of the Social Democratic Party (2004–2005)
Mayor of Lisbon (2002-2004); (2005)
Mayor of Figueira da Foz (1997-2001)
Secretary of State of Culture (1990-1994)
Member of Parliament for Lisbon (1980–1991); (1999–2002); (2005–2009)
Member of the European Parliament (1987–1989)
24 April 2008 [9]
 
Manuela Ferreira Leite
3 December 1940
(age 67)
Lisbon
Minister of Finance (2002–2004)
Minister of Education (1993–1995)
Member of Parliament for Lisbon (1999–2005); (2009–2011)
Member of Parliament for Lisbon (1995–1999)
28 April 2008 [10]

Opinion polls

edit

All voters

edit
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size       Others
/Undecided
Lead
Ferreira Leite Passos Coelho Santana Lopes Patinha Antão
Marktest 17–20 May 2008 800 27.3 12.2 9.6 50.9 15.1

PSD voters

edit
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size       Others
/Undecided
Lead
Ferreira Leite Passos Coelho Santana Lopes Patinha Antão
Marktest 17–20 May 2008 800 43.2 9.1 17.4 30.3 25.8

Results

edit
Summary of the May 2008 PSD leadership election results
Candidate 31 May 2008
Votes %
Manuela Ferreira Leite 17,278 37.90
Pedro Passos Coelho 14,160 31.06
Pedro Santana Lopes 13,495 29.60
Patinha Antão 308 0.68
Total 45,241
Valid votes 45,241 99.23
Invalid and blank ballots 351 0.77
Votes cast / turnout 45,592 59.14
Registered voters 77,090
Sources: Official results
Vote share
Manuela Ferreira Leite
37.90%
Pedro Passos Coelho
31.06%
Pedro Santana Lopes
29.60%
Patinha Antão
0.68%
Blank/Invalid
0.77%

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Menezes abandona liderança e convoca eleições", TVI24, 17 April 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Crise no PSD: distritais surpreendidas com Menezes", TVI24, 18 April 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Manuela Ferreira Leite é a nova líder do PSD", Jornal de Negócios, 31 May 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Manuela Ferreira Leite, a primeira mulher a dirigir o partido de Sá Carneiro - Perfil", RTP, 31 May 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Resultados oficiais: PSD ganha europeias", TVI24, 7 June 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  6. ^ "PS vence com 36,56 por cento, mais 7,47 por cento que o PSD", TSF, 28 September 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  7. ^ Público (18 April 2008). "Passos Coelho é candidato às eleições no PSD". Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  8. ^ Público (21 April 2008). "PSD: Patinha Antão apresenta candidatura irreversível e para vencer". Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  9. ^ TVI24 (24 April 2008). "Santana é candidato à liderança do PSD". Retrieved 6 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ TVI24 (28 April 2008). "Manuela Ferreira Leite dá início à campanha". Retrieved 6 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
edit