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1985 Portuguese local elections

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Field	Value
election_name	1985 Portuguese local elections
country	Portugal
type	parliamentary
previous_election	1982 Portuguese local elections
previous_year	1982
next_election	1989 Portuguese local elections
next_year	1989
seats_for_election	All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes
All 1,975 local government councils
election_date	15 December 1985
turnout	63.0% 8.1 pp
1blank	Mayors
2blank	Mayors +/–
3blank	Councillors
4blank	Councillors +/–
image1
leader1	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
party1	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
last_election1	88 mayors, 15.0%
popular_vote1	1,633,247
percentage1	34.2%
swing1	19.2 pp
1data1	149
2data1	61
3data1	819
4data1	380
image2	PS
leader2	António Macedo
(interim)
party2	Socialist Party (Portugal)
last_election2	83 mayors, 31.2%
popular_vote2	1,318,287
percentage2	27.6%
swing2	3.6 pp
1data2	79
2data2	4
3data2	574
4data2	45
image4
colour4	ff0000
leader4	Álvaro Cunhal
party4	PCP
alliance4	APU
last_election4	55 mayors, 20.9%
popular_vote4	935,897
percentage4	19.6%
swing4	1.3 pp
1data4	47
2data4	8
3data4	303
4data4	13
image5
leader5	Lucas Pires
party5	CDS
last_election5	27 mayors, 7.4%
popular_vote5	466,965
percentage5	9.8%
swing5	2.4 pp
1data5	27
2data5	0
3data5	222
4data5	37

All 1,975 local government councils (interim)

Local elections were held in Portugal on 15 December 1985. They were the fourth local elections in Portugal since the democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power. The elections took place just nine weeks after the 1985 legislative election and just one month before the 1986 Presidential elections.

The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities that existed at the time, the election for the Municipal Chambers, 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. This election was the first to grant a 4-years term, instead of the former 3 years. The number of members of the Municipal Assemblies and Parish Assemblies was greatly reduced in comparison with the former election.

For the first time, the Social Democratic Party achieved the majority of the voting by itself, since the coalition with the Democratic and Social Center, the Democratic Alliance, that achieved good results in 1979 and 1982 had been disbanded. Despite finishing second and losing almost 4 points in share, the Socialist Party lost only 4 of the former 83 mayors plus the presidency achieved in coalition with the Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy.

The Democratic and Social Center, this time participating alone in every election, after the end of the Democratic Alliance, continued its electoral decline, gathering only 10 percent of the votes. Despite keeping the same number of mayors achieved in 1982, in the municipalities where it ran alone, 27, the party lost 49 presidencies achieved in coalition with the Social Democrats.

The Portuguese Communist Party and the Portuguese Democratic Movement, united in the United People Alliance, lost one percentage point in comparison with the election of 1982 and lost 8 mayors, gathering only 47 presidencies. However, despite only a small drop in share of the vote, in the elections to Municipal Assemblies, the coalition lost almost 700 assembly members, decreasing its representation to 1062 members due to the overall reduction of mandates.

The newly founded Democratic Renewal Party, achieved almost 5 percent of the voting and the presidency of 3 municipalities. In the elections to Municipal Assemblies it gathered almost 6% of the voting and 270 Assembly members, being the great surprise of the election.

Turnout in these elections fell more than eight points compared with 1982, with 63 percent of voters casting a ballot. It was also the last local election under a 3-year term.

Electoral system

All 305 municipalities are allocated a certain number of councilors to elect corresponding to the number of registered voters in a given municipality. Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election were:

United People Alliance (APU)
Democratic and Social Center (CDS)
Democratic Renewal Party (PRD)
Socialist Party (PS)
Social Democratic Party (PSD)

Results

Municipal Councils

National summary of votes and seats

-

| |- | |- | |- |

-
73,784
-
71,126
-
-

}

Municipality map

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1981 Census.

Municipality	Population	Previous control	New control
Almada	147,690	Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"		United People Alliance (APU)
Amadora	163,878	Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"		United People Alliance (APU)
Aveiro	60,284	CDS – People's Party}}"		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Barcelos	103,773	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Beja	38,246	Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"		United People Alliance (APU)
Braga	125,472	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Bragança	35,380	CDS – People's Party}}"		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Cascais	141,498	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Castelo Branco	54,908		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Coimbra	138,930	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Évora	51,572	Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"		United People Alliance (APU)
Faro	45,109		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Funchal	112,746	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Gondomar	130,751	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Guarda	40,360	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Guimarães	146,959	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Leiria	96,517	CDS – People's Party}}"		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Lisbon	807,937		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Loures	276,467	Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"		United People Alliance (APU)
Matosinhos	136,498	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras	149,328		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Ponta Delgada	63,804	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Portalegre	27,313	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Porto	327,368		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Santarém	62,896	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Santa Maria da Feira	109,531		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Setúbal	98,366	Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"		United People Alliance (APU)
Sintra	226,428		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Viana do Castelo	81,009		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Vila Nova de Famalicão	106,508	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Nova de Gaia	226,331	Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Real	47,020		Democratic Alliance (AD)
Viseu	83,261	Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"		Social Democratic Party (PSD)

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

-

| |- | |- | |- | |- |

-
88,935
-
69,854
-
-

}

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

-
-

| |- | |- | |- |

-
84,797
-
80,766
-
-

}

Maps

File:Pt ploelection tc1985.PNG|The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Councils in each district. File:Pt ploelection ma1985.PNG|The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Assemblies in each district. File:Pt ploelection pa1985.PNG|The first and the second most voted parties in Parish Assemblies in each district.

Notes

The source of the voting data is the Portuguese Electoral Commission

Further Notes:

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.

References

Cities where the PSD contested alone. Not with coalitions with CDS or PPM.
Cities where the CDS contested alone. Not with coalitions with PSD or PPM.
[https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/lei-organica/2001-34526875 Eleição dos titulares dos órgãos das autarquias locais]. ''[[Diário da República]]'' (in Portuguese.) Retrieved 17 July 2025.
"Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Recenseamentos Gerais da População)". [[Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portugal).

Info: Wikipedia Source

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