Headlines
Exit polls show Portugal's centre-right AD ahead in election, no majority
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 18, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 18, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Portugal's AD leads in exit polls but lacks a majority. Socialists and Chega follow closely, with potential coalitions under discussion.
LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's ruling centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) was poised to win the most votes in Sunday's early parliamentary election, but short of a full majority, three exit polls showed, putting the AD in the 29%-35.1% range.
In the previous election in March 2024, the AD won around 29%, leading to a minority government that collapsed a year later. To win an outright majority, a party needs to garner at least 42% of the vote.
The polls published by the three main television channels - SIC, RTP and TVI - put the centre-left Socialists at 19.4%-26%, closely followed by the far-right Chega, with whom AD leader and acting Prime Minister Luis Montenegro refuses to make any deals, in the 19.5% to 25.5% range.
Business-friendly Liberal Initiative (IL), a party some analysts see as a potential coalition ally of the AD, was likely to garner 4%-8% of the vote, meaning their potential alliance could only reach a majority of 116 in the 230-seat parliament if both perform at the top of the exit poll estimates.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; writing by Andrei Khalip, editing by Catarina Demony)
The Democratic Alliance (AD) is poised to win the most votes in the election but is short of a full majority, according to three exit polls.
To win an outright majority in Portugal, a party needs to garner at least 42% of the votes.
The centre-left Socialists are polling between 19.4% and 26%, closely followed by the far-right Chega party.
The Liberal Initiative (IL) is expected to garner 4%-8% of the vote and could be a potential coalition ally for the Democratic Alliance.
The previous minority government formed by the AD collapsed a year after it was established following the March 2024 election.
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