1985 Portuguese local elections

none 1985 Portuguese local elections Portugal parliamentary 1982 Portuguese local elections 1982 1989 Portuguese local elections 1989 All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese ParishesAll 1,981 local government councils 15 December 1985 63.9% 7.5 pp Mayors Mayors +/– Councillors Councillors +/– Cavaco Silva 1988.png 135 110 150 5 13 Aníbal Cavaco Silva Social Democratic Party (Portugal) 88 mayors, 14.6%Cities where the PSD contested alone. Not with coalitions with CDS or PPM. 1,649,560 34.0% 19.4 pp 149 61 822 380 PS António Macedo(interim) Socialist Party (Portugal) 83 mayors, 31.1% 1,330,388 27.4% 3.7 pp 79 4 571 57 Alvaro Cunhal 1980 (cropped).jpg 114 110 150 5 0 ff0000 Álvaro Cunhal PCP APU 55 mayors, 20.7% 942,197 19.4% 1.3 pp 47 8 305 20 Francisco Lucas Pires 1989.jpg 120 110 150 0 5 Lucas Pires CDS 27 mayors, 7.5%Cities where the CDS contested alone. Not with coalitions with PSD or PPM. 471,838 9.7% 2.2 pp 27 0 224 33 Local elections were held in Portugal on 15 December 1985. They were the fourth local elections in Portugal since the 1976 Constitution introduced the concept of democratic local power.Decreto-Lei n.º 701-B/76, de 29 de setembro https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/decreto-lei/701-b-1976-223433 10 May 2026 29 September 1976 Diário da República pt The elections took place just nine weeks after the 1985 legislative election and just one month before the 1986 Presidential elections. The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities that existed at the time, the election for the Municipal Chambers, another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president, this last was held separately in the more than 4,000 parishes around the country. This election was the first to grant a 4-year term, instead of the previous 3-year terms. The number of members of the Municipal Assemblies and Parish Assemblies was greatly reduced in comparison with the former election. For the first time, the Social Democratic Party polled first by itself, since the coalition with the Democratic and Social Center, the Democratic Alliance, that achieved good results in 1979 and 1982, had been disbanded. Despite finishing second and losing almost 4 points in share, the Socialist Party lost only 4 mayors, which included a coalition with the Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy. The Democratic and Social Center, this time participating alone in every municipality, after the end of the Democratic Alliance, continued its electoral decline, gathering only 10 percent of the votes. Despite holding on to the same number of mayors achieved, by itself, in 1982, the party still lost 49 presidencies achieved in coalition with the Social Democrats. The Portuguese Communist Party and the Portuguese Democratic Movement, united in the United People Alliance, lost one percentage point in comparison with the 1982 election and lost 8 mayors, falling to 47 presidencies. However, despite only a small drop in vote share, in the elections to Municipal Assemblies, the coalition lost almost 700 assembly members, decreasing its representation to 1,062 members due to the overall reduction of mandates. The newly founded Democratic Renewal Party, achieved almost 5 percent of the voting and the presidency of 3 municipalities. In the elections to Municipal Assemblies it gathered almost 6% of the voting and 270 Assembly members, albeit the shares were far inferior to those achieved in the legislative election of October of the same year. Turnout in these elections fell more than eight points compared with 1982, with 63 percent of voters casting a ballot. Background Electoral system All 305 municipalities are allocated a certain number of councilors to elect corresponding to the number of registered voters in a given municipality. Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method.Eleição dos titulares dos órgãos das autarquias locais. Diário da República (in Portuguese.) Retrieved 17 July 2025. By-elections (1982–1985) During the normal three-year term of local governments, four municipal council by-elections were held: In the municipality of Guimarães on 4 September 1983; In the municipality of Marco de Canaveses on 18 December 1983; In the municipality of São João da Madeira on 15 April 1984; In the municipality of Lamego on 29 April 1984, adding to this, sixty-four parishes also held a by-election for parish assemblies.Comissão Nacional de Eleições Eleições / Referendos https://www.cne.pt/content/eleicoes-referendos 10 March 2026 pt +City control in by-elections (1982–1985)Date Municipality Population Previous control New control4 September 1983Guimarães146,959Socialist Party (PS)Socialist Party (PS)18 December 1983Marco de Canaveses46,131Democratic and Social Center (CDS)Democratic and Social Center (CDS)15 April 1984São João da Madeira16,444Democratic Alliance (AD)Democratic and Social Center (CDS)29 April 1984Lamego32,833Social Democratic Party (PSD)Social Democratic Party (PSD) Parties The main political forces involved in the election were: United People Alliance (APU) Democratic and Social Center (CDS) Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) Socialist Party (PS) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Results Municipal Councils National summary of votes and seats Summary of the 15 December 1985 Municipal Councils elections results |- ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidacies ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Councillors ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Mayors |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|± |- | Social Democratic Party (Portugal) Social Democratic |align=right| 1,649,560 |align=right| 33.99 |align=right| 19.4 |align=right| 268 |align=right| 822 |align=right| 380 |align=right| 149 |align=right| 61 |- | Socialist Party (Portugal) Socialist |align=right| 1,330,388 |align=right| 27.41 |align=right| 3.7 |align=right| 285 |align=right| 571 |align=right|57 |align=right| 79 |align=right|4 |- | United People Alliance red United People Alliance |align=right| 942,197 |align=right| 19.41 |align=right| 1.3 |align=right| 305 |align=right| 305 |align=right|20 |align=right| 47 |align=right|8 |- | Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party Democratic and Social Centre |align=right| 471,838 |align=right| 9.72 |align=right| 2.2 |align=right| 163 |align=right| 224 |align=right|33 |align=right| 27 |align=right|0 |- | Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal) green Democratic Renewal |align=right| 230,177 |align=right| 4.74 |align=right| — |align=right| 115 |align=right| 51 |align=right|— |align=right| 3 |align=right|— |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor=Popular Democratic Union (Portugal) align="center" | |align=left|Popular Democratic Union |align=right| 28,701 |align=right| 0.59 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| 63 |align=right| 3 |align=right| 0 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- | People's Monarchist Party (Portugal) People's Monarchist |align=right| 23,897 |align=right| 0.49 |align=right| 0.3 |align=right| 6 |align=right| 3 |align=right|2 |align=right| 0 |align=right|1 |- | Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat Portuguese Workers' Communist |align=right| 11,275 |align=right| 0.23 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| 32 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- | Christian Democratic Party (Portugal) darkolivegreen Christian Democratic |align=right| 7,863 |align=right| 0.16 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| 5 |align=right| 2 |align=right|0 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- | Workers Party of Socialist Unity |align=right| 2,311 |align=right| 0.05 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| 3 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,698,207 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|96.80 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0.5 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|— |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|1,981 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|32 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|305 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0 |- |colspan=2|Blank ballots |76,607||1.58||0.2||colspan=6 rowspan=4| |- |colspan=2|Invalid ballots |78,715||1.62||0.3 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,853,529 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| |- |colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout ||7,595,146||63.90||7.5 |- | colspan=11 align=left | Source:Resultados Eleitorais SGMAI https://www.sg.mai.gov.pt/AdministracaoEleitoral/Resultadoseleitorais/Paginas/default.aspx 11 May 2026 Ministry of Home Affairs pt Eleições Autárquicas 2005 – Atlas Eleitoral https://www.sg.mai.gov.pt/AdministracaoEleitoral/Publicacoes/SociologiaEleitoral/Documents/ATLAS_AUTARQUICAS_2005.pdf 11 May 2026 2007 Ministry of Home Affairs pt |} Municipality map thumb|center|270px|Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality. Municipalities won by:■ - PSD: 149■ - PS: 79 ■ - APU: 47■ - CDS: 27 ■ - PRD: 3 City control The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1981 Census.https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_publicacoes Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Recenseamentos Gerais da População) www.ine.pt Statistics Portugal pt 17 July 2021 Municipality Population Previous controlhttps://www.cne.pt/sites/default/files/dl/ce_al1982.pdf Presidentes das Câmaras Municipais Eleitos 1982 www.cne.pt Comissão Nacional de Eleições pt 11 May 2026 New controlhttps://www.cne.pt/sites/default/files/dl/ce_al1985.pdf Presidentes das Câmaras Municipais Eleitos 1985 www.cne.pt Comissão Nacional de Eleições pt 11 May 2026 Almada 147,690 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU) Amadora 163,878 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU) Aveiro 60,284 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Barcelos 103,773 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Beja 38,246 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU) Braga 125,472 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Bragança 35,380 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Cascais 141,498 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Castelo Branco 54,908 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Coimbra 138,930 Socialist Party (PS) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Évora 51,572 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU) Faro 45,109 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Funchal 112,746 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Gondomar 130,751 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Guarda 40,360 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Guimarães 146,959 Socialist Party (PS) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Leiria 96,517 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Lisbon 807,937 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Loures 276,467 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU) Matosinhos 136,498 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Oeiras 149,328 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Ponta Delgada 63,804 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Portalegre 27,313 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Porto 327,368 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Santarém 62,896 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Santa Maria da Feira 109,531 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Setúbal 98,366 United People Alliance (APU) Socialist Party (PS) Sintra 226,428 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Viana do Castelo 81,009 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Vila Nova de Famalicão 106,508 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS) Vila Nova de Gaia 226,331 Socialist Party (PS) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Vila Real 47,020 Democratic Alliance (AD) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Viseu 83,261 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Municipal Assemblies National summary of votes and seats Summary of the 15 December 1985 Municipal Assemblies elections results |- ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidacies ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Mandates |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|± |- | Social Democratic Party (Portugal) Social Democratic |align=right| 1,438,790 |align=right| 29.64 |align=right| 15.5 |align=right| |align=right| 2,539 |align=right| 380 |- | Socialist Party (Portugal) Socialist |align=right| 1,170,840 |align=right| 24.12 |align=right| 6.9 |align=right| |align=right| 1,817 |align=right| 1,386 |- | United People Alliance red United People Alliance |align=right| 968,148 |align=right| 19.95 |align=right| 1.0 |align=right| |align=right| 1,062 |align=right|719 |- | Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party Democratic and Social Centre |align=right| 782,209 |align=right| 16.12 |align=right| 8.4 |align=right| |align=right| 1,019 |align=right|5 |- | Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal) green Democratic Renewal |align=right| 260,960 |align=right| 5.38 |align=right| — |align=right| |align=right| 270 |align=right| — |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor=Popular Democratic Union (Portugal) align="center" | |align=left|Popular Democratic Union |align=right| 33,447 |align=right| 0.69 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| |align=right| 14 |align=right|6 |- | People's Monarchist Party (Portugal) People's Monarchist |align=right| 15,927 |align=right| 0.33 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| |align=right|7 |align=right|21 |- | Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat Portuguese Workers' Communist |align=right| 6,494 |align=right| 0.13 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| |align=right| 0 |align=right| 1 |- | Christian Democratic Party (Portugal) darkolivegreen Christian Democratic |align=right| 4,026 |align=right| 0.08 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| |align=right| 2 |align=right|0 |- | Socialist League of the Workers red Socialist League of the Workers |align=right| 784 |align=right| 0.02 |align=right| — |align=right| |align=right| 0 |align=right| — |- | Workers Party of Socialist Unity |align=right| 250 |align=right| 0.00 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,681,875 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|96.46 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0.7 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|— |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|6,730 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|3,271 |- |colspan=2|Blank ballots |94,075||1.94||0.3||colspan=6 rowspan=4| |- |colspan=2|Invalid ballots |77,573||1.60||0.4 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,853,523 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| |- |colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout ||7,595,146||63.90||7.5 |- | colspan=11 align=left | Source: |} Parish Assemblies National summary of votes and seats Summary of the 15 December 1985 Parish Assemblies elections results |- ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidacies ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Mandates ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Presidents |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|± |- | Social Democratic Party (Portugal) Social Democratic |align=right| 1,584,664 |align=right| 32.84 |align=right| 17.6 |align=right| |align=right| 13,117 |align=right| 3,532 |align=right| 1,841 |align=right| 799 |- | Socialist Party (Portugal) Socialist |align=right| 1,303,759 |align=right| 27.02 |align=right| 3.4 |align=right| |align=right| 9,044 |align=right|3,804 |align=right| 1,001 |align=right| 24 |- | United People Alliance red United People Alliance |align=right| 993,813 |align=right| 20.60 |align=right| 0.7 |align=right| |align=right| 3,675 |align=right|1,424 |align=right|355 |align=right| 21 |- | Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party Democratic and Social Centre |align=right| 507,715 |align=right| 10.52 |align=right| 2.7 |align=right| |align=right| 4,532 |align=right| 412 |align=right| 518 |align=right| 105 |- | Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal) green Democratic Renewal |align=right| 164,410 |align=right| 3.41 |align=right| — |align=right| |align=right| 726 |align=right| — |align=right| 40 |align=right| — |- |style="width: 8px" bgcolor=gray align="center" | |align=left|Independents |align=right| 67,628 |align=right| 1.40 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| |align=right| 793 |align=right| 206 |align=right| 107 |align=right| 6 |- |style="width: 10px" bgcolor=Popular Democratic Union (Portugal) align="center" | |align=left|Popular Democratic Union |align=right| 28,572 |align=right| 0.59 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| |align=right| 26 |align=right|5 |align=right|1 |align=right|0 |- | Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat Portuguese Workers' Communist |align=right| 4,153 |align=right| 0.09 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- | People's Monarchist Party (Portugal) People's Monarchist |align=right| 2,585 |align=right| 0.05 |align=right| 0.1 |align=right| |align=right| 24 |align=right|79 |align=right|2 |align=right|7 |- | Christian Democratic Party (Portugal) darkolivegreen Christian Democratic |align=right| 1,021 |align=right| 0.02 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| |align=right| 4 |align=right|4 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- | Workers Party of Socialist Unity |align=right| 792 |align=right| 0.02 |align=right| 0.0 |align=right| |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |align=right| 0 |align=right|0 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,659,112 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|96.57 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0.5 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|— |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|31,941 |width="52" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|10,202 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|3,865 |width="45" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|120 |- |colspan=2|Blank ballots |84,823||1.76||0.0||colspan=6 rowspan=4| |- |colspan=2|Invalid ballots |80,780||1.67||0.4 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,824,715 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| |- |colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout ||7,554,276||63.87||7.5 |- | colspan=11 align=left | Source: |} Maps Notes The source of the voting data is the Portuguese Electoral Commission https://web.archive.org/web/20200205173916/http://eleicoes.cne.pt/raster/index.cfm?dia=15&mes=12&ano=1985&eleicao=cm 2020-02-05 Further Notes: United People Alliance (APU) was composed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE). The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists. The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election. The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs. See also Politics of Portugal List of political parties in Portugal Elections in Portugal References External links Portuguese Electoral Commission 1985 Local Category:December 1985 in Europe