# 2009 Lisbon local election

The 2009 Lisbon local election was held on 11 October 2009 to elect the members of the Lisbon City Council.
Mayor since 2007, António Costa, was able to win a full term as mayor with 44 percent of the votes and achieving an absolute majority. In this election, he joined forces with Helena Roseta's Citizen for Lisbon movement. He defeated former Lisbon mayor and Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes, which gathered almost 39 percent of the votes and elected 7 councillors.
The Unitary Democratic Coalition presented, just like in 2007, Ruben de Carvalho as their mayoral candidate, but lost support compared with 2007, winning 8 percent of the votes and losing one councillor. The Left Bloc, presented Luís Fazenda as a candidate for Mayor, but failed to hold on to their council seat.
Turnout grew considerably compared with the 2007 by-election, with just 53.4 percent of voters casting a ballot on election day.

## Background

The 2007 by-election was called after former mayor Carmona Rodrigues government fell, following a controversial urban development plan regarding a company called Bragaparques, that ended up being investigated by the Public Prosecution Office. The PSD withdrew their support from Carmona and a by-election was shortly called. In a very fragmented result, António Costa, PS candidate, was elected mayor with just 29.5 percent of the votes.

## Electoral system

Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method. Unlike in national legislative elections, independent lists are allowed to run.

## Parties and candidates

| Party/Coalition | Party/Coalition | Party/Coalition | Political position | Candidate | 2007 result | 2007 result |
| Party/Coalition | Party/Coalition | Party/Coalition | Political position | Candidate | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | PS | Socialist Party Partido Socialista | Centre-left | António Costa | 39.8% | 8 / 17 |
| | LCS | Lisbon with Way Lisboa com Sentido PPD/PSD, CDS–PP, MPT, PPM | Centre-right | Pedro Santana Lopes | 20.5% | 3 / 17 |
| | CDU | Unitary Democratic Coalition Coligação Democrática Unitária PCP, PEV | Left-wing to far-left | Ruben de Carvalho | 9.4% | 2 / 17 |
| | BE | Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda | Left-wing to far-left | Luís Fazenda | 6.8% | 1 / 17 |
| | PCTP | Portuguese Workers' Communist Party Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses | Far-left | Carlos Paisana | 1.6% | 0 / 17 |
| | PNR | National Renovator Party Partido Nacional Renovador | Far-right | José Pinto Coelho | 0.8% | 0 / 17 |
| | MEP | Hope for Portugal Movement Movimento Esperança por Portugal | Centre-right | José Ramos | — | — |
| | MMS | Merit and Society Movement Movimento Mérito e Sociedade | Centre-right | António Coelho da Costa | — | — |
| | PTP | Portuguese Labour Party Partido Trabalhista Português | Centre-left | Bruno de Sousa | — | — |

## Opinion polling
### Polling

Exit poll
| Polling firm/Link | Fieldwork date | Sample size | PS | PSD CDS MPT PPM | CDU | BE | O | Lead |
| 2009 local election | 11 Oct 2009 | — | 44.0 9 | 38.7 7 | 8.1 1 | 4.6 0 | 4.6 0 | 5.3 |
| UCP–CESOP | 11 Oct 2009 | ? | 44.0– 48.0 8/9 | 34.0– 38.0 6/7 | 8.5– 10.5 1/2 | 3.0– 5.0 0/1 | – | 10.0 |
| Eurosondagem | 11 Oct 2009 | ? | 41.2– 45.4 | 36.9– 41.1 | 6.6– 8.8 | 3.9– 6.1 | – | 4.3 |
| Intercampus | 11 Oct 2009 | ? | 42.8– 48.4 | 34.7– 40.3 | 7.1– 10.7 | 3.0– 5.6 | – | 8.1 |
| Aximage | 6–8 Oct 2009 | 802 | 44.4 | 38.4 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 6.0 |
| Marktest | 5–7 Oct 2009 | 510 | 45.0 | 37.9 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 7.1 |
| UCP–CESOP | 3–6 Oct 2009 | 2,221 | 45 | 33 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 12 |
| Eurosondagem | 1–6 Oct 2009 | 1,022 | 41.9 | 36.9 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 4.8 | 5.0 |
| Intercampus | 28–30 Sep 2009 | 800 | 41.4 | 33.1 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 8.3 |
| 2009 legislative election | 27 Sep 2009 | — | 34.8 (7) | 40.9 (8) | 8.6 (1) | 9.8 (1) | 5.9 (0) | 6.1 |
| Marktest | 31 Aug–2 Sep 2009 | 500 | 43.8 | 32.7 | 7.0 | 9.2 | 7.3 | 8.3 |
| UCP–CESOP | 28 Jun–4 Jul 2009 | 716 | 38 | 37 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| 2009 EP election | 7 Jun 2009 | — | 25.6 (5) | 39.8 (8) | 10.8 (2) | 12.4 (2) | 11.4 (0) | 14.2 |
| 2007 by-election | 15 Jul 2007 | — | 39.8 8 | 20.5 3 | 9.5 2 | 6.8 1 | 23.4 3 | 19.3 |

## Results
### Municipal Council

Summary of the 11 October 2009 Lisbon City Council elections results :
| 197 |||||||||||
| Parties | Parties | Votes | % | ±pp swing | Councillors | Councillors |
| Parties | Parties | Votes | % | ±pp swing | Total | ± |
| | Socialist | 123,372 | 44.01 | 4.2 | 9 | 1 |
| | PSD / CDS–PP / MPT / PPM | 108,457 | 38.69 | 18.3 | 7 | 4 |
| | Unitary Democratic Coalition | 22,623 | 8.07 | 1.3 | 1 | 1 |
| | Left Bloc | 12,795 | 4.56 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 |
| | Hope for Portugal Movement | 1,975 | 0.70 | — | 0 | — |
| | Portuguese Workers' Communist | 1,866 | 0.67 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Renovator | 917 | 0.33 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| | Merit and Society Movement | 638 | 0.23 | — | 0 | — |
| | Labour | 515 | 0.18 | — | 0 | — |
| Total valid | Total valid | 273,158 | 97.45 | 1.3 | 17 | 0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 4,267 | 1.52 | 0.9 | | |
| Invalid ballots | Invalid ballots | 2,885 | 1.03 | 0.5 | | |
| Total | Total | 280,310 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 524,642 | 53.43 | 16.7 | | |
| Source: Lisbon 2009 election results |||||||||||

### Municipal Assembly

Summary of the 11 October 2009 Lisbon City Council elections results :
| 352323 |||||||||||
| Parties | Parties | Votes | % | ±pp swing | Seats | Seats |
| Parties | Parties | Votes | % | ±pp swing | Total | ± |
| | Socialist | 110,243 | 39.35 | 11.8 | 23 | 7 |
| | PSD / CDS–PP / MPT / PPM | 108,636 | 38.78 | 5.7 | 23 | 3 |
| | Unitary Democratic Coalition | 28,025 | 10.00 | 2.9 | 5 | 2 |
| | Left Bloc | 18,857 | 6.73 | 2.7 | 3 | 2 |
| | Hope for Portugal Movement | 2,807 | 1.00 | — | 0 | — |
| | Portuguese Workers' Communist | 2,447 | 0.87 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Renovator | 1,204 | 0.43 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| | Labour | 598 | 0.21 | — | 0 | — |
| Total valid | Total valid | 272,817 | 97.37 | 1.8 | 54 | 0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 4,468 | 1.59 | 0.9 | | |
| Invalid ballots | Invalid ballots | 2,851 | 1.02 | 0.7 | | |
| Total | Total | 280,136 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 524,642 | 53.40 | 0.7 | | |
| Source: Lisbon 2009 election results |||||||||||

### Parish Assemblies

Results of the 11 October 2009 Lisbon Parish Assembly elections :
| Parish | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | Total S |
| Parish | LCS | LCS | PS | PS | CDU | CDU | BE | BE | IND | IND | | Total S |
| Ajuda | 23.8 | 3 | 35.6 | 5 | 31.6 | 4 | 6.4 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Alcântara | 30.8 | 4 | 29.2 | 4 | 29.8 | 4 | 7.4 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Alto do Pina | 50.4 | 7 | 32.8 | 5 | 7.9 | 1 | 5.4 | - | | | 13 |
| Alvalade | 54.7 | 8 | 30.2 | 4 | 6.9 | 1 | 5.2 | - | | | 13 |
| Ameixoeira | 35.2 | 5 | 34.3 | 5 | 21.4 | 3 | 5.4 | - | | | 13 |
| Anjos | 43.6 | 6 | 34.7 | 5 | 10.1 | 3 | 7.5 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Beato | 22.6 | 3 | 56.6 | 9 | 11.3 | 1 | 5.8 | - | | | 13 |
| Benfica | 38.3 | 8 | 39.9 | 8 | 11.3 | 2 | 7.0 | 1 | | | 19 |
| Campo Grande | 43.3 | 6 | 37.4 | 5 | 9.5 | 3 | 6.6 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Campolide | 36.9 | 5 | 42.4 | 6 | 11.7 | 1 | 6.3 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Carnide | 25.8 | 4 | 25.6 | 3 | 40.8 | 6 | 4.9 | - | | | 13 |
| Castelo | 4.3 | - | 38.5 | 3 | 50.3 | 4 | 3.0 | - | | | 7 |
| Charneca | 28.1 | 4 | 34.3 | 5 | 23.4 | 3 | 10.8 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Coração de Jesus | 43.1 | 4 | 36.6 | 4 | 9.1 | 1 | 8.3 | - | | | 9 |
| Encarnação | 31.9 | 3 | 43.4 | 5 | 12.5 | 1 | 8.3 | - | | | 9 |
| Graça | 40.9 | 6 | 35.8 | 5 | 11.9 | 1 | 8.0 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Lapa | 54.9 | 8 | 25.2 | 4 | 5.6 | - | 4.1 | - | 7.4 | 1 | 13 |
| Lumiar | 44.8 | 10 | 35.7 | 7 | 8.4 | 1 | 6.0 | 1 | | | 19 |
| Madalena | 29.7 | 2 | 23.7 | 2 | 38.6 | 3 | 4.0 | - | | | 7 |
| Mártires | 57.4 | 5 | 32.1 | 2 | 2.4 | - | 5.3 | - | | | 7 |
| Marvila | 25.8 | 5 | 43.8 | 10 | 17.0 | 3 | 6.7 | 1 | | | 19 |
| Mercês | 30.0 | 3 | 43.4 | 5 | 15.2 | 1 | 7.5 | - | | | 9 |
| Nossa Senhora de Fátima | 50.4 | 7 | 32.7 | 5 | 8.0 | 1 | 5.5 | - | | | 13 |
| Pena | 31.1 | 3 | 32.3 | 4 | 10.6 | 1 | 7.2 | - | 14.5 | 1 | 9 |
| Penha de França | 36.0 | 5 | 39.7 | 6 | 11.6 | 1 | 8.8 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Prazeres | 42.0 | 6 | 35.2 | 5 | 12.7 | 1 | 7.7 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Sacramento | 31.0 | 3 | 40.5 | 3 | 15.9 | 1 | 8.4 | - | | | 7 |
| Santa Catarina | 31.0 | 3 | 46.0 | 5 | 11.4 | 1 | 8.3 | - | | | 9 |
| Santa Engrácia | 48.9 | 5 | 30.5 | 3 | 11.3 | 1 | 5.3 | - | | | 9 |
| Santa Isabel | 47.3 | 7 | 30.3 | 4 | 7.9 | 1 | 5.3 | - | 6.4 | 1 | 13 |
| Santa Justa | 25.9 | 2 | 45.9 | 5 | 17.0 | 1 | 7.0 | - | | | 7 |
| Santa Maria Maior | 49.0 | 7 | 32.6 | 5 | 9.6 | 1 | 5.9 | - | | | 13 |
| Santa Maria dos Olivais | 33.2 | 8 | 42.2 | 10 | 12.0 | 2 | 7.7 | 1 | | | 21 |
| Santiago | 30.5 | 2 | 33.7 | 3 | 25.1 | 2 | 6.9 | - | | | 7 |
| Santo Condestável | 38.0 | 5 | 38.2 | 6 | 12.4 | 1 | 7.3 | 1 | | | 13 |
| Santo Estêvão | 18.6 | 2 | 32.6 | 3 | 39.4 | 4 | 5.9 | - | | | 9 |
| Santos-o-Velho | 33.5 | 3 | 40.6 | 4 | 9.1 | 1 | 4.7 | - | 9.4 | 1 | 9 |
| São Cristóvão e São Lourenço | 30.2 | 3 | 46.0 | 5 | 13.8 | 1 | 6.2 | - | | | 9 |
| São Domingos de Benfica | 45.4 | 10 | 34.7 | 7 | 8.6 | 1 | 5.6 | 1 | | | 13 |
| São Francisco Xavier | 57.7 | 8 | 27.7 | 4 | 6.8 | 1 | 5.1 | - | | | 13 |
| São João | 38.2 | 5 | 38.2 | 6 | 12.7 | 1 | 7.8 | 1 | | | 13 |
| São João de Brito | 53.8 | 8 | 28.9 | 4 | 6.6 | 1 | 5.2 | - | 1.6 | - | 13 |
| São João de Deus | 55.7 | 8 | 30.0 | 4 | 6.5 | 1 | 4.7 | - | | | 13 |
| São Jorge de Arroios | 44.6 | 6 | 33.9 | 5 | 10.9 | 1 | 7.2 | 1 | | | 13 |
| São José | 41.0 | 4 | 32.0 | 3 | 13.2 | 1 | 8.6 | 1 | | | 9 |
| São Mamede | 52.4 | 8 | 32.4 | 5 | 6.1 | - | 6.1 | - | | | 13 |
| São Miguel | 16.2 | 1 | 50.2 | 6 | 24.9 | 2 | 4.7 | - | | | 9 |
| São Nicolau | 52.4 | 5 | 28.3 | 3 | 8.9 | 1 | 8.1 | - | | | 9 |
| São Paulo | 30.1 | 3 | 44.1 | 5 | 14.3 | 1 | 8.7 | - | | | 9 |
| São Sebastião da Pedreira | 57.8 | 9 | 28.6 | 5 | 4.8 | - | 5.7 | - | | | 13 |
| Santo Estêvão | 24.9 | 2 | 27.6 | 3 | 38.2 | 4 | 5.5 | - | | | 9 |
| Sé | 55.1 | 6 | 26.4 | 3 | 8.7 | - | 4.8 | - | | | 9 |
| Socorro | 20.8 | 2 | 29.5 | 3 | 10.4 | 1 | 5.8 | - | 28.7 | 3 | 9 |
| Total | 39.3 | 265 | 36.3 | 251 | 13.3 | 80 | 6.5 | 18 | 0.6 | 7 | 621 |
| Source: Election Results ||||||||||||