The prime minister of Portugal (Portuguese: primeiro-ministro; pronounced [pɾiˈmɐjɾu miˈniʃtɾu]) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to parliament and keeps the president informed. The prime minister can hold the role of head of government with the portfolio of one or more ministries. As Portugal is a semi-presidential parliamentary republic, the prime minister is the country's leading political figure and de facto chief executive.
There is no limit to the number of terms a person can serve as prime minister. The prime minister is appointed by the president following legislative elections, after hing heard the parties represented in the parliament. Usually, the person named is the leader of the largest party in the previous election, but there he been exceptions over the years.
History[edit]Since the Middle Ages, some officers of the Portuguese Crown gained precedence over the others, serving as a kind of prime ministers. Over time, the role of principal officer of the Crown fell upon the chanceler-mor (chancellor), the mordomo-mor (mayor of the palace) and the escrivão da puridade (king's private secretary).
The first modern prime minister of Portugal was the 1st Duke of Palmela, who was sworn in on 24 September 1834, as Presidente do Conselho de Ministros (President of the Council of Ministers). In 1911, the official title of the prime minister became Presidente do Ministério (President of the Ministry). In 1933, it became again Presidente do Conselho de Ministros.
The present title Primeiro-Ministro (Prime Minister), attributed to the head of the Government of Portugal, was officially established by the Constitution of 1976 after the revolution of 25 April 1974
Officeholders[edit]The incumbent prime minister of Portugal is Luís Montenegro, who took office on 2 April 2024 as the 14th prime minister of the Third Portuguese Republic.[3] The official residence of the prime minister is the Palacete de São Bento, a mansion next to São Bento Palace, which, in confusion, is sometimes also called "São Bento Palace".
Portuguese prime ministers of the Third Portuguese Republic:
1st Mário Soares (two terms); 2nd Alfredo Nobre da Costa; 3rd Carlos Mota Pinto; 4th Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo; 5th Francisco Sá Carneiro; (interim) Diogo Freitas do Amaral – Deputy Prime Minister; 6th Francisco Pinto Balsemão (two terms); 1st Mário Soares (third term); 7th Aníbal Caco Silva (three terms); 8th António Guterres (two terms); 9th José Manuel Barroso; 10th Pedro Santana Lopes; 11th José Sócrates (two terms); 12th Passos Coelho (two terms); 13th António Costa (three terms); 14th Luís Montenegro (two terms); Prime minister's residence[edit] Main article: Palacete de São Bento Facade of the São Bento Mansion. Interior of the Mansion.Just behind the main building of the Assembly of the Republic, there is a mansion that serves as residence and office for the prime minister of Portugal. The mansion, dated from 1877, was built within the garden of the old monastery that held the Portuguese parliament. It has been the prime minister's official residence since 1938, when Salazar moved in. Although it is the official residence of the prime minister, not all incumbents he lived in the mansion during their term in office. The incumbent Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, currently resides in the mansion.[4]
List of prime ministers of Portugal[edit] Main article: List of prime ministers of Portugal Term of office in years[edit] Main article: List of prime ministers of Portugal by time in office Graphical timeline (since 1976)[edit] Living former prime ministers of Portugal[edit]Living former prime minister showing periods in office with dates of birth and age. Currently there are 7 former Prime Ministers alive:
Aníbal Caco Silva(1985–1995) (1939-07-15) 15 July 1939 (age 86) António Guterres(1995–2002) (1949-04-30) 30 April 1949 (age 76) José Manuel Durão Barroso(2002–2004) (1956-03-23) 23 March 1956 (age 69) Pedro Santana Lopes(2004–2005) (1956-06-20) 20 June 1956 (age 69) José Sócrates(2005–2011) (1957-09-06) 6 September 1957 (age 68) Pedro Passos Coelho(2011–2015) (1964-07-24) 24 July 1964 (age 61) António Costa(2015–2024) (1961-07-17) 17 July 1961 (age 64) Historical rankings of prime ministers[edit]In 2012 and 2014 newspaper i and the polling agency Pitagórica conducted polls asking for the best Portuguese prime minister among the seven most recent ones (i.e. in the previous 30 years). The results revealed that the public clearly separated the seven evaluated prime ministers between the three best ones (each receiving more than 20% of the votes) and the four worst (each receiving from 4 to 8% of the votes).[5][6] In both polls, António Guterres (1995–2002) ranked as the best prime minister. Mário Soares (1976–78 and 1983–85) and Aníbal Caco Silva (1985–95) were also among the best prime ministers. On the other hand, José Manuel Durão Barroso (2002–04), Pedro Santana Lopes (2004–05), José Sócrates (2005–11) and Pedro Passos Coelho (2011–15, incumbent at the time of the polls) ranked as the worst prime ministers. Pedro Santana Lopes was ranked the worst in the 2012 poll[7] while Barroso ranked as the worst in the 2014 one.[6] Together, the three best prime ministers ruled Portugal uninterruptedly from 1983 to 2002, while the four worst ruled from 2002 to 2015.
Rankings of prime ministers Prime Minister Party Tenure 2012[8] 2014[7] António Guterres PS 1995–2002 26.8% 24.2% Mário Soares PS 1976–19781983–1985 22.7% 23.9% Aníbal Caco Silva PSD 1985–1995 23.7% 23.6% José Sócrates PS 2005–2011 6.2% 7.7% Pedro Santana Lopes PSD 2004–2005 4.0% 6.9% Pedro Passos Coelho PSD 2011–2015 8.4% 6.8% José Manuel Durão Barroso PSD 2002–2004 8.1% 6.7% See also[edit] Leader of the Opposition (Portugal) Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal President of Portugal References[edit] ^ "Article 185 (Substitution of members of the Government), Constitution of the Portuguese Republic" (PDF). Assembly of the Republic. October 10, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2025. ^ "Remunerações dos Cargos Políticos em Portugal". MaisLiberdade (in Portuguese). Lisbon. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024. Em Portugal, o cargo político com maior salário bruto, e que serve de referência para o cálculo dos restantes salários, é o de Presidente da República, que aufere 9.833€ mensais, seguindo-se o de Presidente da Assembleia da República, com 8.849€, e o de Primeiro-ministro, com 8.296€. ^ "Presidente deu posse ao primeiro-ministro e ministros do XXIV Governo Constitucional" [President swears in the Prime Minister and ministers of the XXIV Constitutional Government] (in Portuguese). 2 April 2024. ^ "Luís Montenegro está a viver em São Bento. Mas em que estado é que está o palacete?". TVI. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025. ^ "E o prémio de melhor primeiro-ministro português vai para..." [And the award for the best Portuguese Prime Minister goes to...] (in Portuguese). Notícias ao Minuto. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2018. ^ a b "António Guterres o melhor primeiro-ministro da democracia e Durão Barroso o pior" [Guterres was the best Prime Minister of the democracy and Durão Barroso was the worst] (in Portuguese). i. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2018. ^ a b "Barómetro Pitagórica Março 2014" (in Portuguese). 1 April 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2024. ^ "Barómetro Pitagórica Novembro 2012" (in Portuguese). 26 November 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2024. External links[edit] Official website of the Prime Minister of Portugal vteEuropean Council List of meetings Parties represented 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 (January–April) 2004 (May–December) 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (January–June) 2013 (July–December) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 António Costa, President (non-voting) Stocker (AT) De Wever (BE) Zhelyazkov (BG) Plenković (HR) Christodoulides (CY) Fiala (CZ) Frederiksen (DK) Michal (EE) Orpo (FI) Macron (FR) Merz (DE) Mitsotakis (GR) Orbán (HU) Martin (IE) Meloni (IT) Siliņa (LV) Nausėda (LT) Frieden (LU) Abela (MT) Schoof (NL) Tusk (PL) Montenegro (PT) Dan (RO) Fico (SK) Golob (SI) Sánchez (ES) Kristersson (SE) von der Leyen, President of the Commission (non-voting) Kallas (High Representative) (present non-member, non-voting) Metsola (President of the Parliament) (partially attending, non-member, non-voting) European Union Portal vteHeads of state and government of EuropeHeadsof stateUN members and observers Albania Andorra Armenia1 Austria Azerbaijan1 Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus1 Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia1 Germany Greece Holy See (Vatican City) Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan1 Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russian Federation1 San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Sovereign Military Order of Malta Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey1 Ukraine United Kingdom Partially recognised2 Abkhazia1 Kosovo Northern Cyprus1 South Ossetia1 Unrecognised states3 Transnistria Heads ofgovernmentUN members and observers Albania Andorra Armenia1 Austria Azerbaijan1 Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus1 Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia1 Germany Greece Holy See (Vatican City) Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan1 Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russian Federation1 San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Sovereign Military Order of Malta Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey1 Ukraine United Kingdom Partially recognised2 Abkhazia1 Kosovo Northern Cyprus1 South Ossetia1 Unrecognised states3 Transnistria 1. 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