| Author (Corporate) | Cardiff EDC (Compiler) |
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| Publication Date | 2019 |
| Content Type | Overview |
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Summary: Reports, analyses and information on the electoral campaign and the aftermath of the European Parliament election held in Portugal on 26 May 2019. Further information: This poll was the first of a series of elections being held in the country in 2019. Despite attempts to bring into the campaign a number of EU-related issues - namely the potential reduction of cohesion funds allocated to Portugal and the role of the country in the European Union (EU) - the electoral campaign eventually focused mostly on national topics. In particular, just as the campaign was being launched by the political parties, the cabinet threatened to resign over issues related to retroactive pay rises for school teachers. The campaign was held in a post-financial crisis context, characterised by higher-than-average growth rates and decreasing unemployment rates. This election was seen as a first round of the parliamentary election scheduled for later in the year. The governing centre-left Socialist Party (PS) collected the highest share of votes (33.4%), improving on the previous European Parliament election. The centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) came a distant second (21.9%). Outcome was mixed for the leftist parties, which support the socialist cabinet in Parliament - the Left Bloc improved its result and came third (9.8%) while the Communist Party's coalition reduced its share of votes (6.9%). Unlike other Member States, no far-right party collected a relevant percentage of votes. The biggest winner of the election was the pro-animal welfare party People-Animals-Nature (PAN), which collected 5.1% and managed to elect its first ever MEP. The turnout was on a record low level. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Subject Tags | European Parliament Elections |
| Keywords | 2019 EP election |
| Countries / Regions | Portugal |
