2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

The 2021 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 27 November.^[1] 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.^[2]

Quick facts Turnout, Candidate ...

2021 Social Democratic Party leadership election

← 2020 27 November 2021 2022 →
Turnout	78.2% 0.8 pp
Candidate Rui Rio Paulo Rangel Popular vote 18,852 17,106 Percentage 52.4% 47.6%
Results by municipality.      Rio      Rangel      Tie
Leader before election Rui Rio Elected Leader Rui Rio

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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,^[3] while Rangel ruled this out, saying he would only negotiate with CDS – People's Party and Liberal Initiative.^[4]

Rui Rio defeated Paulo Rangel by a 52.4% to 47.6% margin and was reelected for a 3rd term as party leader.^[5] 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.