2014 European Parliament election in Portugal

2014 European Parliament election in Portugal
← outgoing members elected members →
All 21 Portuguese seats to the European Parliament
Turnout	33.7% 3.1 pp

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 elections, 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 more 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, 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) Aliança Portugal, 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.^[4]

Campaign period

Party slogans

	Original slogan	English translation	Refs
AP	« Na Europa por Portugal »	"In Europe for Portugal"	^[5]
PS	« Confiança na Mudança »	"Trust in Change"	^[6]
BE	« De Pé! »	"Standing!"	^[7]
CDU	« Defender o povo e o País »	"Defending the people and the country"	^[8]
MPT	« Mais verdade na política! »	"More truth in politics!"	^[9]
LIVRE	« Livre. Para fazer diferente. »	"Free. To do different. »	^[10]

Candidates' debates

2014 European Parliament election in Portugal debates
Date	Organisers	Moderator(s)	P Present A Absent invitee N Non-invitee
			AP Rangel	PS Assis	BE Matias	CDU Ferreira	MPT Pinto	LIVRE Tavares	Refs
									Refs
22 May	Antena 1	Maria Flor Pedroso	P	P	P	P	P	P	^[11]

Opinion polling

Graphical summary

Polling

Date released	Polling Firm	Sample size							Others	Lead
Date released	Polling Firm	Sample size							Others	Lead
25 May	Election result	3,284,452	27.7 7 seats	31.5 8 seats	4.6 1 seat	12.7 3 seats	7.2 2 seat	2.2 0 seats	14.1 0 seats	3.8
25 May (20:00)	Exit Poll – RTP1 Universidade Católica	—	25.0–29.0 6 / 8	30.0–34.0 7 / 9	5.0–7.0 1 / 2	12.0–15.0 3 / 4	7.0–8.0 1 / 2	—	—	5.0
25 May (20:00)	Exit Poll – SIC Eurosondagem	—	25.0–29.2 7 / 8	32.1–36.3 8 / 9	4.2–6.0 1	11.4–13.9 3	6.6–8.8 1 / 2	—	—	7.1
25 May (20:00)	Exit Poll – TVI24 Aximage	—	26.0–30.0 7 / 8	32.0–37.0 8 / 10	4.0–7.0 1	10.0–14.0 3	5.0–9.0 1	—	—	6.0 7.0
Exit polls
14–22 May	Aximage Seat projection	1,507	30.1 7 / 9	36.4 9 / 10	5.8 1	11.4 2 / 3	3.4 –	0.6 –	12.3 –	6.3
14–20 May	Eurosondagem Seat projection	2,014	29.7 7 / 8	36.9 9 / 10	5.7 1	12.5 3	—	—	15.2 –	7.2
17–19 May	Universidade Católica Seat projection	2,085	30.0 7 / 9	34.0 8 / 10	5.0 1	12.0 2 / 4	3.0 0 / 1	2.0 –	14.0 –	4.0
14–18 May	Pitagórica	505	29.1	36.6	5.5	9.4	5.6	—	13.8	7.5
7–14 May	Aximage Seat projection	1,027	30.2 7 / 8	37.8 9 / 11	6.3 2 / 2	8.8 1 / 3	4.3 0 / 1	0.8 –	11.8 –	7.6
14–22 Apr	Eurosondagem Seat projection	1,533	32.5 8	37.5 9 / 10	5.5 1	10.9 2 / 3	—	—	13.6 –	5.0
9–12 Apr	Aximage	613	33.2	40.9	4.9	10.8	—	—	10.2	7.7
25–29 Mar	Pitagórica^[12]	506	33.4	37.3	6.4	9.8	—	—	13.1	3.9
13–19 Mar	Eurosondagem Seat projection	1,525	32.1 8	36.9 9	6.6 1	11.9 3	—	—	12.5 –	4.8
8–13 Mar	Aximage Seat projection	755	37.4 9	39.9 9	6.6 1	8.2 2	—	—	7.9 –	2.5
24 Feb–1 Mar	Pitagórica^[13]	506	35.4	32.2	7.3	11.5	—	—	13.6	3.2
20–24 Jan	Pitagórica^[14]	506	34.2	30.4	9.0	10.8	—	—	15.6	3.8
7–10 Jan	Aximage	601	37.1	35.5	6.9	9.2	—	—	11.3	1.6
2014
7 June 2009	Election results	3,568,943	40.1¹ 10 seats	26.5 7 seats	10.7 3 seats	10.6 2 seats	0.7 0 seats	—	11.4 0 seats	13.6
¹ Sum of votes and seats of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and of the People's Party (CDS–PP).

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^[15]^[16]

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the results of Portugal's 25 May 2014 election to the European Parliament
National party		European party	Main candidate	Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Socialist Party (PS)	PES	Francisco Assis	1,034,249	31.49	4.96	8	1
	Portugal Alliance (AP) • Social Democratic Party (PSD) • People's Party (CDS–PP)	EPP	Paulo Rangel	910,647	27.73	^[17]	7 6 1	2 1
	Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU) • Communist Party (PCP) • Ecologist Party (PEV)	EGP / PEL	João Ferreira	416,925	12.69	2.05	3 3 0	1 0
	Earth Party (MPT)	ALDE	Marinho e Pinto	234,788	7.15	6.48	2	2
	Left Bloc (B.E.)	PEL / EACL	Marisa Matias	149,764	4.56	6.16	1	2
	LIVRE (L)		Rui Tavares	71,495	2.18	new	0	new
	Party for Animals and Nature (PAN)	EUL-NGL	Orlando Figueiredo	56,431	1.72	new	0	new
	Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP)	None	Leopoldo Mesquita	54,708	1.67	0.47	0	0
	New Democracy Party (PND)	EUD	Eduardo Welsh	23,082	0.70	new	0	new
	Portuguese Labour Party (PTP)	None	José Manuel Coelho	22,542	0.69	new	0	new
	People's Monarchist Party (PPM)	None	Nuno Correia da Silva	17,785	0.54	0.14	0	0
	National Renovator Party (P.N.R.)	None	Humberto Oliveira	14,887	0.45	0.08	0	0
	Socialist Alternative Movement (MAS)	None	Gil Garcia	12,497	0.38	new	0	new
	Portugal Pro-Life (PPV)	None	Acácio Valente	12,008	0.37	new	0	new
	Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA)	None	Paulo Casaca	5,298	0.16	new	0	new
	Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS)	None	Carmelinda Pereira	3,666	0.11	0.04	0	0
Valid votes				3,040,771	92.58
Blank and invalid votes				243,681	7.42
Totals				3,284,452	100.00	—	21	1
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout				9,753,568	33.67	3.11
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Vote share

PS			31.49%
AP			27.73%
CDU			12.69%
MPT			7.15%
BE			4.56%
L			2.18%
PAN			1.72%
PCTP/MRPP			1.67%
PND			0.70%
PTP			0.69%
PPM			0.54%
Others			1.46%
Blank/Invalid			7.42%

Seats

PS			38.10%
AP			33.33%
CDU			14.29%
MPT			9.52%
BE			4.76%

Distribution by European group

Summary of political group distribution in the 8th European Parliament (2014–2019) ^[18]
Groups		Parties	Seats	Total	%
	Party of European Socialists (PES)	Socialist Party (PS)	8	8	38.10
	European People's Party (EPP)	Social Democratic Party (PSD) People's Party (CDS–PP)	6 1	7	33.33
	European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)	Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) Left Bloc (BE)	3 1	4	19.05
	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)	Earth Party (MPT)	2	2	9.52

Total			21	21	100.00

Maps

Most voted political force by district.
Strongest party by municipality. Pink: PS; Darkblue: PSD-CDS; Red: CDU

References

^ PSD: 31.7%, 8 seats; CDS-PP: 8.4%, 2 seats.
^ PSD: 6; CDS-PP: 1
^ PSD: 2; CDS-PP: 1
^ Coligação alargada às europeias, Expresso, 5 July 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
^ "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – ALIANÇA PORTUGAL (PSD+CDS)". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "Europeias: PS adopta estética selfie em cartaz". Meios & Publicidade (in Portuguese). 13 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – BE". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 25 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "Campanha das Europeias: Nada de novo". Meios & Publicidade (in Portuguese). 19 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – MPT". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 17 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – LIVRE". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 2 July 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "Debates Europeias 2014". RTP (in Portuguese). 22 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ Results 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%.
^ Results 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%.
^ Results 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%.
^ "Europeias 2014 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/europeias2014/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
^ "Europeias 2009 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/europeias2009/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
^ The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP) contested separately the 2009 election.
^ "Elecciones al Parlamento Europeo: Resultados por países 1979 - 2014". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2017.

External links

[1] PSD: 31.7%, 8 seats; CDS-PP: 8.4%, 2 seats.

[2] PSD: 6; CDS-PP: 1

[3] PSD: 2; CDS-PP: 1

[4] Coligação alargada às europeias, Expresso, 5 July 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.

[5] "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – ALIANÇA PORTUGAL (PSD+CDS)". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[6] "Europeias: PS adopta estética selfie em cartaz". Meios & Publicidade (in Portuguese). 13 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[7] "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – BE". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 25 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[8] "Campanha das Europeias: Nada de novo". Meios & Publicidade (in Portuguese). 19 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[9] "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – MPT". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 17 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[10] "ELEIÇÕES PARA O PARLAMENTO EUROPEU DE 2014 – LIVRE". Ephemera (in Portuguese). 2 July 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[11] "Debates Europeias 2014". RTP (in Portuguese). 22 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

[12] Results 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%.

[13] Results 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%.

[14] Results 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%.

[15] "Europeias 2014 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/europeias2014/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 11 June 2023.

[16] "Europeias 2009 - Afluência". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/europeias2009/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 11 June 2023.

[17] The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP) contested separately the 2009 election.

[18] "Elecciones al Parlamento Europeo: Resultados por países 1979 - 2014". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2017.

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