# 2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

The 2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 27 November. If no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the first round, a second round would be held between the two most voted candidates in the first round on 1 December, however, as only two candidates will be on the ballot, a second round will not be necessary. The original date for the first round was 4 December, but the party decided to advance the date by a week. Nearly 47,000 party members, out of more than 85,000 active members, were registered to vote.
One issue identified during the campaign was the rise of the far-right Chega!. Though neither candidate said they would invite the party into government, Rio signalled he would be open to negotiating with them on a case-by-case basis, while Rangel ruled this out, saying he would only negotiate with CDS – People's Party and Liberal Initiative.
Rui Rio defeated Paulo Rangel by a 52.4% to 47.6% margin and was reelected for a 3rd term as party leader. He led the party into the 2022 snap general elections, which he lost, losing 2 seats in the Assembly of the Republic and that resulted in an absolute majority to the Socialist Party.

## Candidates

| Name | Born | Experience | Announcement date | Ref. |
| Paulo Rangel | 18 February 1968 (age 53) Vila Nova de Gaia | Member of the European Parliament (2009–2024) Leader of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Caucus (2008–2009) Member of Parliament for Porto (2005–2009) | 15 October 2021 | |
| Rui Rio | 6 August 1957 (age 64) Porto | President of the Social Democratic Party (2018–2022) Leader of the Opposition (2018–2022) Member of Parliament for Porto (2019–2022) Mayor of Porto (2001–2013) Member of Parliament for Porto (1991–2002) | 19 October 2021 | |

### Withdrew

* Nuno Miguel Henriques, councillor in Alenquer (2021–present) and failed candidate for the PSD leadership in 2012;

### Declined

* Pedro Passos Coelho, former Prime Minister (2011-2015) and PSD leader (2010-2018);
* Luís Montenegro, former PSD caucus leader and candidate for the party's leadership in 2020;
* Miguel Pinto Luz, Deputy mayor of Cascais and candidate for the party's leadership in 2020;
* Miguel Poiares Maduro, former Minister for Regional Development (2013-2015);
* Jorge Moreira da Silva, former Environment Minister (2013-2015);

## Opinion polls
### All voters

| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | Others /Undecided | Lead |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Rui Rio | Paulo Rangel | Others /Undecided | Lead |
| Intercampus | 5–11 Nov 2021 | 612 | 49.3 | 34.3 | 16.3 | 15 |
| CESOP–UCP | 29 Oct–4 Nov 2021 | 878 | 43 | 32 | 25 | 11 |
| Aximage | 28–31 Oct 2021 | 803 | 38 | 31 | 31 | 7 |

### PSD voters

| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | Others /Undecided | Lead |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Rui Rio | Paulo Rangel | Others /Undecided | Lead |
| Pitagórica | 10–15 Nov 2021 | ? | 58 | 27 | 15 | 31 |
| CESOP–UCP | 29 Oct–4 Nov 2021 | ? | 48 | 41 | 11 | 7 |
| Aximage | 28–31 Oct 2021 | ? | 54 | 37 | 9 | 17 |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Rui Rio | Luís Montenegro | Miguel Pinto Luz | Paulo Rangel | Pedro Passos Coelho | Miguel Poiares Maduro | Jorge Moreira da Silva | Pedro Duarte | Others /Undecided | Lead |
| Intercampus | 14–23 Sep 2021 | 609 | — | 15.8 | 3.0 | 34.3 | 27.8 | — | 5.4 | 3.6 | 10.2 | 6.5 |
| Intercampus | 13–20 Aug 2021 | 612 | 8.8 | 10.3 | — | 17.3 | 16.5 | 7.8 | — | — | 39.2 | 0.8 |

## Results

Summary of the November 2021 PSD leadership election results :
| Candidate | Candidate | 27 November 2021 | 27 November 2021 |
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Rui Rio | 18,852 | 52.43 |
| | Paulo Rangel | 17,106 | 47.57 |
| Total | Total | 35,958 | |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 35,958 | 98.58 |
| Invalid and blank ballots | Invalid and blank ballots | 518 | 1.42 |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 36,476 | 78.17 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 46,664 | |
| Sources: Official results ||||
Vote share
Rui Rio
52.43%
Paulo Rangel
47.57% :

### Results by party federation

The following table shows a breakdown of the results of the election by party federation, which are mostly equal to the electoral circles.
Result breakdown of the 2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election :
| Federation | Rui Rio | Rui Rio | Paulo Rangel | Paulo Rangel | Invalid ballots | Votes cast | Registered |
| Federation | Votes | % | Votes | % | Invalid ballots | Votes cast | Registered |
| Algarve | 511 | 53.56 | 443 | 46.44 | 18 | 972 | 1,354 |
| Aveiro | 2,301 | 61.16 | 1,401 | 37.84 | 85 | 3,787 | 4,575 |
| Baixo Alentejo | 109 | 38.38 | 175 | 61.62 | 1 | 285 | 337 |
| Braga | 2,615 | 52.31 | 2,384 | 47.69 | 78 | 5,077 | 6,419 |
| Bragança | 664 | 62.11 | 405 | 37.89 | 9 | 1,078 | 1,321 |
| Castelo Branco | 280 | 47.22 | 313 | 52.78 | 13 | 606 | 820 |
| Coimbra | 632 | 46.13 | 738 | 53.87 | 26 | 1,396 | 1,838 |
| Évora | 208 | 52.53 | 188 | 47.47 | 5 | 401 | 514 |
| Guarda | 417 | 35.82 | 747 | 64.18 | 9 | 1,173 | 1,420 |
| Leiria | 705 | 54.06 | 599 | 45.94 | 14 | 1,318 | 1,990 |
| Lisbon: Urban Area | 1,703 | 40.30 | 2,523 | 59.70 | 64 | 4,290 | 6,033 |
| Lisbon: Oeste | 130 | 45.61 | 155 | 54.39 | 4 | 289 | 385 |
| Portalegre | 106 | 48.62 | 112 | 51.38 | 5 | 223 | 285 |
| Porto | 3,821 | 59.32 | 2,620 | 40.68 | 69 | 6,510 | 7,930 |
| Santarém | 574 | 54.56 | 478 | 45.44 | 18 | 1,070 | 1,403 |
| Setúbal | 371 | 36.05 | 658 | 63.95 | 14 | 1,043 | 1,300 |
| Viana do Castelo | 616 | 57.95 | 447 | 42.05 | 15 | 1,078 | 1,259 |
| Vila Real | 543 | 37.68 | 898 | 62.32 | 22 | 1,463 | 1,814 |
| Viseu | 835 | 54.61 | 694 | 45.39 | 22 | 1,551 | 1,882 |
| Azores | 485 | 77.60 | 140 | 22.40 | 11 | 636 | 796 |
| Madeira | 1,183 | 57.01 | 892 | 42.99 | 14 | 2,089 | 2,797 |
| Europe | 36 | 35.29 | 66 | 64.71 | 2 | 104 | 150 |
| Outside of Europe | 7 | 18.92 | 30 | 81.08 | 0 | 37 | 42 |