Elections into the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira took place on the 22nd of September. All 47 seats of the Assembly were in contention.

The Result

Although the Social Democratic Party (PSD) came out top in the election, the results were an overall blow to their popularity.

The PSD, led by Miguel Albuquerque, received 39.42 per cent of the total votes (21 seats), while their biggest rival, the Socialist party led by Paulo Cafofo received about 35 per cent of the votes (19 seats), according to results published by the Portugal Resident.

Historically, the island has been a stronghold of the PSD where it has enjoyed an absolute majority in parliament since 1976. The increase in the popularity of the Socialists, which has more than tripled since the last election, has now broken this trend.

Reactions

Although the PSD is expected to hold on to power by forming a centre-right government with the CDS-People’s Party, the result has given a confidence boost to the Socialist party, even at the national level.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa told reporters: “This is a historic result for the Socialist Party, its best ever. It’s extraordinary.”

With parliamentary elections less than a week away, opinion polls have shown that the Socialists are the favourite to win. PSD national leader, Rui Rio, however, hopes that the results of the Madeira election will be repeated on the mainland.

“If what happened in Madeira today is repeated on the mainland, that would suit me just fine,” Rui Rio reportedly said with a chuckle.

João Pedro Vieira, the head of the Socialist Party in Madeira, saysit is the “start of a new cycle in Madeira with new policies and new key players.”

All eyes are now on the October 6th Madeira parliamentary election, where the Socialists are hoping to win enough votes to govern alone.