Ricardo Leão was first elected in the 2013 local election as a city councillor in Loures,[2] being elected as President of the Municipal Assembly of Loures in the 2017 election.[3]
He became an MP after the 2015 legislative election, replacing Marcos Perestrello who took office as Secretary of State of National Defense and left parliament in 2018 after Perestrello left office in a cabinet reshuffle.[4][1] He returned to Parliament following the 2019 legislative election, where he stayed until the 2021 local election, when he was selected as the PS candidate for Mayor of Loures.[5]
The PS in Loures won the 2021 election with 31.5% of the votes, while the CDU got 29.1% of the votes and the PSD received 14.0% of the votes. As such, Leão defeated the Communist incumbent Mayor Bernardino Soares, who was in office since 2013, and became the Mayor of Loures,[6] making a deal with the PSD in order to form a majority.[7] In September 2024, he was elected as the leader of the PS Federation of the Urban Area of Lisbon.[8]
After the October 2024 riots in the Lisbon metropolitan area following the death of Odair Moniz, Leão defended the eviction of the people who had participated in the riots.[9] Former Prime Minister and at the time the President of the European Council-elect António Costa wrote an article condemning Leão's comments,[10] which caused his resignation as head of the Federation.[11]
In July 2025, Leão ordered the demolition of illegal constructions in Bairro do Talude.[12] This move also raised criticisms, including from within the PS.[13]
Despite the criticisms, Leão ran for reelection and won the 2025 election with an absolute majority, winning 43.8% of the votes, while Chega got 20.7%, the PSD/CDS coalition got 14.9% and the CDU fell to 11.0%.[14] After the election, he criticized António Costa, stating that he should continue entertaining himself in Europe and that he isn't missed in Portugal.[15]
.png)