(03/08/09) -

Portuguese Conservatives Gain Supporters

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The conservative Social Democratic Party (PSD) has gained public backing in Portugal, according to a poll by Marktest released by Diario de Noticias and TSF. 28.8 per cent of respondents would vote for the PSD in the next general election, up 3.9 points since January.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The conservative Social Democratic Party (PSD) has gained public backing in Portugal, according to a poll by Marktest released by Diario de Noticias and TSF. 28.8 per cent of respondents would vote for the PSD in the next general election, up 3.9 points since January.

The governing Socialist Party (PS) remains on top with 38.2 per cent. The Leftist Bloc (BE) is third with 14 per cent, followed by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition (CDU)—which includes the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Environmental Party "The Greens" (OV)—with 10.6 per cent, and the Social Democratic Centre / Popular Party (CDS/PP) with 4.1 per cent.

The Socialists won the February 2005 parliamentary ballot, garnering 45.3 per cent of the vote and electing 121 lawmakers to the 230-seat Assembly of the Republic. Socialist leader Jose Socrates took over as prime minister in March. In May 2008, Manuela Ferreira Leite was elected as the new leader of the right-leaning PSD.

Last month, Socrates was ratified as PS leader, garnering 96 per cent of all cast ballots in an internal election.

On Feb. 7, former PSD leader Luis Filipe Menezes called for the party to undergo a "profound transformation" and "find its own identity", recalling that the PSD has had too many leadership changes in the recent years.

Portugal’s next general election is tentatively scheduled for September 2009.

Polling Data

What party would you vote for in a general election?

Source: Marktest / Diario de Noticias / TSF
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 806 Portuguese adults, conducted from Feb. 17 to Feb. 22, 2009. Margin of error is 3.45 per cent.