Regional elections were held on 22 September 2019 to determine the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

in Portugal. All 47 members of the Assembly were up for election. The

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

continued their 43-year streak of being the largest party in the Madeiran legislature, but failed to hold on to their absolute majority, and would require a coalition for the first time to remain in power. The party won 39 percent of the votes, a decrease of 5 percentage points, and lost 3 members of the regional party. In the electoral map, the PSD lost the two biggest cities in Madeira,

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

and Santa Cruz to the PS, although by less than 2 percent of the vote. Overall, the PSD still won the majority of municipalities, obtaining victory in 7 of the 11 in Madeira. The

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

surged in these elections, polling just two seats and 3.6 points behind the PSD. It was the best showing of the PS in a regional election in Madeira going back to the first regional elections in 1976, two years after the fall of the dictatorship. The party won 4 of the 11 municipalities in Madeira. The People's Party lost a lot of votes and seats in these elections, winning just 3 seats and 5.8 percent of the vote.

Together for the People Together for the People (, JPP) is a political party operating primarily in Madeira. Its founding principles are Unity, Transparency and Resistance, as evidenced by its symbol. It was legalised by the Portuguese Constitutional Court on 27 Januar ...

(JPP) also suffered a big setback by losing 2 members and almost 5 percent of the votes. It even failed to obtain second place in their traditional bastion of Santa Cruz, falling behind the PS and PSD. The

Unitary Democratic Coalition The Unitary Democratic Coalition (, CDU) is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party () and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" ( Portuguese: Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" or PEV). The coalition also integrates ...

lost 1 of their 2 seats, and lost 3.7 percent of votes compared to 2015. The Left Bloc was wiped from the regional Assembly completely and only won 1.7 percent of the votes. These elections were fought mainly between the PSD and PS, and many left-wing voters opted to vote tactically for the PS to prevent another PSD victory, but by doing so, they hurt the chances of smaller left-wing parties and alliances such as the Left Bloc and CDU. The turnout in these elections increased compared to the previous one for the first time in over a decade, with 55.5 percent of voters casting a ballot, compared with the record-low 49.6 percent in the 2015 elections. Following the elections, PSD and CDS-PP formed a coalition government with a parliamentary majority, headed by Miguel Albuquerque.

Background

Leadership changes and challenges

Socialist Party

After the party's dismal result in the 2015 reginal election, just 11 percent of the votes, the then PS leader, Victor Freitas resigned and a leadership ballot was called. Carlos João Pereira was the sole candidate for the leadership and was elected with 70% of the votes. However, Pereira's leadership divided the party, as he spent much more time in the Assembly of the Republic, in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, rather than in Madeira. A leadership ballot was called for 19 January 2018 and two candidates were on the ballot: Incumbent leader Carlos Pereira and

Porto Moniz Porto Moniz () is a municipality in the northwest corner of the island of Madeira. It is located west of Santana and Machico, and northwest of Funchal. The population in 2011 was 2,711, in an area of 82.93 km2. The municipality features a na ...

mayor,

Emanuel Câmara Emanuel may refer to: * Emanuel (name), a given name and surname (see there for a list of people with this name) * Emanuel School, Australia, Sydney, Australia * Emanuel School, Battersea, London, England * Emanuel (band), a five-piece rock band f ...

. Câmara defeated Pereira by a 57 to 43 percent margin. The results were the following: , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

, align=right , 877 , align=right , 56.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Carlos João Pereira , align=right , 668 , align=right , 43.2 , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , 1,545 , align=right , 79.15 , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Despite being elected leader, Emanuel Câmara announced that he would not be the party's candidate for the Presidency of the Regional Government and that he would pick

mayor

Paulo Cafôfo Paulo Alexandre Nascimento Cafôfo (born 18 May 1971) is a Portuguese teacher and politician who served as Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities between 2022-2024, in charge of the affairs related to the Portuguese diaspora, in Antó ...

as the party's lead candidate.

Electoral system

The current 47 members of the Madeiran regional parliament are elected in a single constituency by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

under the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

, coinciding with the territory of the Region.

Parties

Current composition

The table below lists parties represented in the

Legislative Assembly of Madeira The Legislative Assembly of Madeira () is the legislature of the Portuguese autonomous region of Madeira. The last regional election was held on 23 March 2025, won by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) with 62,059 votes (43.41% share). Power ...

before the election.

Parties running in the election

17 parties were on the ballot for the 2019 Madeira regional election. The parties that contested the election and their lead candidates were: (parties/coalitions are ordered by the way they appeared on the ballot) * Democratic Republican Party (PDR), Filipe Rebelo *

Enough Enough may refer to: Film and television * ''Enough'' (film), a 2002 film starring Jennifer Lopez * "Enough" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of the TV series * "Enough" (''Not Going Out''), a 2017 TV episode *"Enough", an episode of ''Tru Calling'' ...

(CH), Miguel Teixeira *

National Renovator Party Rise Up (, E), originally the National Renewal Party (, PNR) was a Portuguese far-right nationalist political party. Its motto is ''Nation and Work'' () and one of its goals consisted in the appreciation of a Portuguese nationalist spirit. The ...

(PNR), Álvaro Araújo * Left Bloc (BE), Paulino Ascenção *

(PS),

People-Animals-Nature People-Animals-Nature (, PAN) is an environmentalist, animal rights, and animal welfare-focused political party in Portugal, which was founded in 2009. In the 2011 Madeiran regional election, it had 2.13% of the votes, with a total of 3,135 vo ...

(PAN), João Henrique de Freitas *

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

(A), Joaquim Sousa *

Earth Party The Earth Party (, ), previously called The Earth Party Movement (, abbreviated MPT, hence called ''MPT – Partido da Terra''), is a green-conservative political party in Portugal, founded on 12 August 1993. Its main political priorities are ...

(MPT), Valter Rodrigues *

Portuguese Workers' Communist Party The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Re-Organized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat (, PCTP/MRPP) is a Maoist political party in Portugal. History and overview The party was founded in 1970 as the (MRPP), led by Arnaldo de Matos. ...

(PCTP/MRPP), Fernanda Calaça *

(PSD),

Miguel Albuquerque Miguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque (born 4 May 1961) is a Portugal, Portuguese Monarchism, monarchist politician of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the current Presidents of the Regional Government of M ...

Liberal Initiative The Liberal Initiative (, , IL) is a liberal political party in Portugal. Founded in 2017, it is currently led by Miguel Rangel, who is the interim leader since the resignation of Rui Rocha in May 2025. The party has been described as being ...

(IL), Nuno Morna * Portuguese Labour Party (PTP), Raquel Coelho *

United Party of Retirees and Pensioners United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(PURP),

Rafael Macedo Rafael Macedo de la Concha (born May 6, 1950, in Mexico City) is a Mexican army general and former Attorney General in the cabinet of Vicente Fox (December 1, 2000 – April 27, 2005). Macedo de la Concha has taught several law courses at ...

CDS – People's Party The CDS – People's Party (, derived from ''Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular'', CDS–PP)

(CDS-PP), Rui Barreto *

(CDU), Edgar Silva *

(JPP),

Élvio Sousa Élvio Duarte Martins Sousa (born 19 April 1974) is a Portuguese archeologist and politician from Madeira, currently serving as the secretary-general of Together for the People and as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira since 2015. ...

React, Include, Recycle React–Include–Recycle (, R.I.R.) is a centrist Portuguese political party led by Vitorino Silva, better known as Tino de Rans. The RIR presents itself as a humanist, pacifist, environmentalist, pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes ...

(RIR), Roberto Vieira

Campaign period

Party slogans

Candidates' debates

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Polling

Voter turnout

The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day.

Results

On election night, the centre-right PSD and national-conservative CDS said they were willing to form a coalition government.Miguel Albuquerque admite "coligação de governo" com CDS-PP
''

Jornal de Negócios ''Jornal de Negócios'' (meaning ''Business Newspaper'' in English) is a Portuguese language business newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southweste ...

'', 22 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019. , - , colspan=10, Madeira Regional Parliament 2019

, - ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left,

Parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=± pp swing ! colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center", MPs , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;",

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;", 2019 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=± , - , , , 56,449, , 39.42, , 4.9, , 24, , 21, , 3, , 44.68, , 6.4 , - , , , 51,207, , 35.76, , , , 5, , 19, , 14, , 40.43, , 29.8 , - , , , 8,246, , 5.76, , 8.0, , 7, , 3, , 4, , 6.38, , 8.5 , - , , , 7,830, , 5.47, , 4.8, , 5, , 3, , 2, , 6.38, , 4.3 , - , , , 2,577, , 1.80, , 3.7, , 2, , 1, , 1, , 2.13, , 2.1 , - , , , 2,489, , 1.74, , 2.1, , 2, , 0, , 2, , 0.00, , 4.2 , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=teal align="center" , , align=left,

, , 2,095, , 1.46, , , , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=yellow align="center" , , align=left,

, , 1,766, , 1.23, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=LightSeaGreen align="center" , , align=left,

, , 1,749, , 1.22, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#CC0033 align="center" , , align=left, Labour , , 1,426, , 1.00, , , , 1, , 0, , 1, , 0.00, , 2.1 , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#6AD1E3 align="center" , , align=left,

, , 766, , 0.53, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#00ADEF align="center" , , align=left,

, , 762, , 0.53, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#202056 align="center" , , align=left, CHEGA , , 619, , 0.43, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=black align="center" , , align=left, Democratic Republican , , 603, , 0.42, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , , , 601, , 0.42, , 1.3, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , , 507, , 0.35, , , , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , , 274, , 0.19, , 0.6, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9", Total valid , width="50" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 139,966 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 97.74 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 2.1 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 47 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 47 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 0 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 0.0 , - , colspan=2, Blank ballots , , 700, , 0.49, , 0.5, , colspan=5 rowspan=4, , - , colspan=2, Invalid ballots , , 2,534, , 1.77, , 1.6 , - , colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9", Total , width="50" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 143,200 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", , - , colspan=2, Registered voters/turnout , , 258,005, , 55.50, , 5.8 , - , colspan=10 align=left , Source
Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Maps

File:Partido mais votado por Freguesia nas regionais da Madeira de 2019.png, Most voted political force by parish.

Aftermath

Government approval

For the first time in democracy, the PSD failed to win an outright majority of seats and was forced to negotiate with other parties. Shortly after, the party reached a deal with