1979 Portuguese local elections
16 December 1979
All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes
All 1,900 local government councils
Turnout71.7% Increase 7.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Francisco Sá Carneiro.jpg
Leader Francisco Sá Carneiro Mário Soares Álvaro Cunhal
Party PSD PS PCP
Alliance AD APU
Last election 152 mayors, 41.1% 115 mayors, 33.0% 37 mayors, 17.3%
Popular vote 2,109,072[1] 1,258,966 885,899
Percentage 47.5% 28.3% 19.9%
Swing Increase 6.4 pp Decrease 4.7 pp Increase 2.6 pp
Mayors 195[2] 60 50
Mayors +/– Increase 43 Decrease 55 Increase 13
Councillors 1,063[3] 516 316
Councillors +/– Increase 119 Decrease 175 Increase 48

The Portuguese local elections of 1979 took place on 16 December. They were the 2nd local elections in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power. The elections took place just two weeks after the 1979 legislative election.

The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is elected president, another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president, this last was held separately in the more than 4,000 parishes around the country.

The Socialist Party finished on the top of the results table, however that was because the coalition between the two major right-wing parties, the Democratic and Social Center and the Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance, did not participated in all Municipalities and Parishes, being the parties which composed it, separated in many Municipalities

The left-wing United People Alliance dominated the election in the municipalities of the South of the country, gathering more than 60% of the voting.

Turnout in these elections increased compared with the 1976 election, as 71.7% of the electorate cast a ballot, the highest turnout recorded in a nationwide local election.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election were:

Results

Municipal Councils

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Councils elections results
Parties Votes % Candidacies Councillors Mayors
Total ± Total ±
Socialist 1,258,966 28.33 297 516 Decrease175 60 Decrease55
Democratic Alliance 1,044,642 23.51 138 426 — 73 —
United People Alliance[A] 885,899 19.94 295 316 Increase48 50 Increase13
Social Democratic 723,953 16.29 156 475 Decrease149 101 Decrease14
Democratic and Social Centre 334,258 7.52 102 156 Decrease161 20 Decrease16
People's Democratic Union 53,076 1.19 95 3 — 0 —
Portuguese Workers' Communist 19,508 0.44 63 0 Steady0 0 Steady0
Christian Democratic 6,631 0.15 9 2 — 0 —
People's Monarchist 6,219 0.14 3 6 Increase3 1 Steady0
UEDS 1,882 0.04 7 0 — 0 —
Workers Party of Socialist Unity 273 0.01 2 0 — 0 —
Total valid 4,271,897 97.56 — 1,900 Decrease8 305 Increase1
Blank ballots 44,6931.01
Invalid ballots 63,6791.43
Total 4,380,269 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,105,65171.74
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Municipality map

Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality.
Municipalities won by:
■ - PS: 60
■ - AD: 73
■ - APU: 50
■ - PSD: 101
■ - CDS: 20
■ - PPM: 1

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1970 Census.[4]

Municipality Population Previous control New control
Almada 107,575 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU)
Amadora 111,929 Municipality created United People Alliance (APU)
Aveiro 49,808 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Beja 36,384 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU)
Braga 96,918 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS)
Bragança 33,070 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Cascais 92,907 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Castelo Branco 55,195 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Coimbra 110,553 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Évora 47,244 United People Alliance (APU) United People Alliance (APU)
Faro 30,973 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Funchal 101,810 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Gondomar 105,075 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Guarda 39,741 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS)
Guimarães 122,719 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Leiria 80,241 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Lisbon 769,044 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Loures 166,167 Socialist Party (PS) United People Alliance (APU)
Matosinhos 109,225 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras 180,194 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Ponta Delgada 67,975 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Portalegre 25,800 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Porto 301,655 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Santarém 56,440 Socialist Party (PS) Socialist Party (PS)
Setúbal 65,230 Socialist Party (PS) United People Alliance (APU)
Sintra 124,893 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Viana do Castelo 70,455 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Nova de Gaia 180,875 Socialist Party (PS) Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Real 44,550 Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Viseu 73,010 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 16 December 1979 Municipal Assemblies elections results
Parties Votes % Candidacies Mandates
Total ±
Socialist 1,245,306 27.86 2,686 Increase988
Democratic Alliance 1,056,656 23.64 2,122 —
United People Alliance[A] 916,990 20.51 1,746 Increase1,067
Social Democratic 747,911 16.73 2,230 Increase572
Democratic and Social Centre 308,721 6.91 832 Decrease221
People's Democratic Union 55,794 1.25 58 —
Portuguese Workers' Communist 10,783 0.24 0 Steady0
People's Monarchist 5,578 0.12 26 Increase24
UEDS 596 0.01 3 —
Christian Democratic 417 0.00 0 Steady0
Total valid 4,266,013 97.28 — 9,703 Increase4,568
Blank ballots 59,5641.33
Invalid ballots 62,2411.39
Total 4,387,818 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,105,64771.86
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 16 December 1979 Parish Assemblies elections results
Parties Votes % Candidacies Mandates Presidents
Total ± Total ±
Socialist 1,219,298 27.77 10,613 Increase2,268
Democratic Alliance 1,000,702 22.79 9,785 — —
United People Alliance[A] 898,670 20.47 4,732 Increase2,441
Social Democratic 736,954 16.78 9,447 Increase371
Democratic and Social Centre 306,332 6.98 4,661 Decrease416
Independents 49,207 1.12 707 Decrease523
People's Democratic Union 41,414 0.94 55 — —
Portuguese Workers' Communist 6,010 0.14 3 Increase1
People's Monarchist 5,006 0.12 78 Increase66
Christian Democratic 2,594 0.06 26 — —
Workers Party of Socialist Unity 695 0.02 1 — —
UEDS 600 0.01 2 — —
Total valid 4,141,981 97.19 — 40,110 — —
Blank ballots 54,7041.25
Invalid ballots 68,5021.56
Total 4,265,187 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,031,26670.72
A In 1976, as Electoral Front United People.

Maps

Notes

Further Notes:

  • Democratic Alliance (AD) was composed by the Democratic Social Center (CDS), the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM).
  • Although the PSD, the CDS and the PPM were united in the Democratic Alliance, they appear in the scorecard because they ran separated in several municipalities.
  • United People Alliance (APU) was composed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE).
  • The number of candidacies expresses the number of municipalities or parishes in which the party or coalition presented lists.
  • The number of mandates expresses the number of municipal deputies in the Municipal Assembly election and the number of parish deputies in the Parish Assembly election.
  • The turnout varies because one may choose not to vote for all the organs.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sum of PSD, AD, CDS and PPM votes.
  2. ↑ Sum of PSD, AD, CDS and PPM elected mayors.
  3. ↑ Sum of PSD, AD, CDS and PPM elected councillors.
  4. ↑ "Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Recenseamentos Gerais da População)". www.ine.pt (in Portuguese). Statistics Portugal. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
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