2014 European Parliament election in Portugal

An election was held in Portugal on Sunday, 25 May 2014, to elect the Portuguese delegation to the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019. This was the seventh European Parliament election held in Portugal.

The Socialist Party (PS) was the winner of the election, scoring 31.5 percent of the votes. The Socialists increased their share of vote by almost 5 percentage points, and won one more seat compared with 2009. However, the PS victory was much weaker than what polls predicted, as the margin between them and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and CDS – People's Party (CDS) coalition was below 4 points. Because of this worse than expected result, the PS would enter in a leadership contest just weeks after the election.

The PSD/CDS contested the election in a coalition called "Portugal Alliance". The coalition achieved one of the worst results ever for the center-right, as PSD+CDS never polled below 30 percent, but the weak result by the coalition was softened by the close margin between them and the Socialists.

The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) scored their best result since 1989, polling almost 13 percent of the vote and winning one more seat compared with 2009. On the other hand, the Left Bloc (BE) suffered a huge defeat by erasing their 2009 historic results. The BE won 4.6 percent of the votes, a drop of more than 6 points, and was only able to elect their top candidate Marisa Matias, compared with the three seats they won in 2009.

The big surprise of the elections was the extraordinary result of the Earth Party (MPT). Headed by the former bar association chairman António Marinho e Pinto, MPT won 7.2 percent of the votes and was able to elect two members to the European Parliament. To add also, that LIVRE, headed by BE dissident Rui Tavares, was not able to win a seat, although scoring 2.2 percent.

Turnout fell to the lowest level ever, with only 33.7 percent of voters casting a ballot.

Electoral system The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 2014 European Union elections, Portugal had 21 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.

Parties and candidates The major parties that participated in the election, and their European Parliament list leaders, were:

Left Bloc (BE), Marisa Matias Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU), João Ferreira Socialist Party (PS), Francisco Assis Social Democratic Party (PSD)/People's Party (CDS–PP) Portugal Alliance (AP), Paulo Rangel LIVRE (L), Rui Tavares Socialist Alternative Movement (MAS), Gil Garcia Earth Party (MPT), António Marinho e Pinto Party for Animals and Nature (PAN), Orlando Figueiredo Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP), Leopoldo Mesquita Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA), Paulo Casaca New Democracy Party (PND), Eduardo Welsh National Renovator Party (PNR), Humberto Nuno de Oliveira Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS), Carmelinda Pereira People's Monarchist Party (PPM), Nuno Correia da Silva Portugal Pro-Life (PPV), Acácio Valente Portuguese Labour Party (PTP), José Manuel Coelho

The Social Democratic Party and the People's Party have contested this election in a coalition.Coligação alargada às europeias , Expresso, 5 July 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.

Campaign period Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs AP « Na Europa por Portugal » "In Europe for Portugal" PS « Confiança na Mudança » "Trust in Change" BE « De Pé! » "Standing!" CDU « Defender o povo e o País » "Defending the people and the country" MPT « Mais verdade na política! » "More truth in politics!" LIVRE « Livre. Para fazer diferente. » "Free. To do different. »

Candidates' debates 2014 European Parliament election in Portugal debates Date Organisers Moderator(s) AP PS BE CDU MPT LIVRE Refs 22 May Antena 1 Maria Flor PedrosoPPPPPP

Opinion polling

Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample size Lead 2014 EP election 25 May 2014 27.7 31.5 4.6 12.7 7.2 2.2 14.1 3.8 CESOP–UCP 25 May 2014 25–29 30–34 5–7 12–15 7–8 — — 5 Eurosondagem 25 May 2014 25.0–29.2 32.1–36.3 4.2–6.0 11.4–13.9 6.6–8.8 — — 7.1 Aximage 25 May 2014 26–30 32–37 4–7 10–14 5–9 — — 6–7 Aximage 14–22 May 2014 1,507 30.1 36.4 5.8 11.4 3.4 0.6 12.3 6.3 Eurosondagem 14–20 May 2014 2,014 29.7 36.9 5.7 12.5 — — 15.2 7.2 CESOP–UCP 17–19 May 2014 2,085 30 34 5 12 3 2 14 4 Pitagórica 14–18 May 2014 505 29.1 36.6 5.5 9.4 5.6 — 13.8 7.5 Aximage 7–14 May 2014 1,027 30.2 37.8 6.3 8.8 4.3 0.8 11.8 7.6 Eurosondagem 14–22 Apr 2014 1,533 32.5 37.5 5.5 10.9 — — 13.6 5.0 Aximage 9–12 Apr 2014 613 33.2 40.9 4.9 10.8 — — 10.2 7.7 PitagóricaResults presented here exclude undecideds (42.6%). With their inclusion results are: PSD/CDS-PP: 19.2%; PS: 21.4%; BE: 3.7%; CDU: 5.6%; Others: 7.5%. 25–29 Mar 2014 506 33.4 37.3 6.4 9.8 — — 13.1 3.9 Eurosondagem 13–19 Mar 2014 1,525 32.1 36.9 6.6 11.9 — — 12.5 4.8 Aximage 8–13 Mar 2014 755 37.4 39.9 6.6 8.2 — — 7.9 2.5 PitagóricaResults presented here exclude undecideds (36.7%). With their inclusion results are: PSD/CDS-PP: 22.4%; PS: 20.4%; BE: 4.6%; CDU: 7.3%; Others: 8.6%. 24 Feb–1 Mar 2014 506 35.4 32.2 7.3 11.5 — — 13.6 3.2 PitagóricaResults presented here exclude undecideds (38.8%). With their inclusion results are: PSD/CDS-PP: 20.9%; PS: 18.6%; BE: 4.7%; CDU: 6.6%; Others: 9.6%. 20–24 Jan 2014 506 34.2 30.4 9.0 10.8 — — 15.6 3.8 Aximage 7–10 Jan 2014 601 37.1 35.5 6.9 9.2 — — 11.3 1.6 2009 EP election 7 June 2009 31.7 8.4 26.5 10.7 10.6 0.7 — 11.4 5.2

Voter turnout The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas.

Turnout Time 12:00 16:00 19:00 2009 2014 ± 2009 2014 ± 2009 2014 ± Total 11.86% 12.14% 0.28 pp 26.82% 26.31% 0.51 pp 36.78% 33.67% 3.11 pp Sources

Results

Distribution by European group + Summary of political group distribution in the 8th European Parliament (2014–2019) Groups Parties Seats Total % Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) 8 8 38.10 European People's Party (EPP) 61 7 33.33 European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) 31 4 19.05 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) 2 2 9.52 Total 21 21 100.00

Maps

2014 European Parliament election in Portugal

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