Lessons From Portugal for European Conservatives
Trust is earned, not demanded.
When an election produces results not seen in decades, it is a shock to the system. Andre Ventura’s second place finish in the first round of the Portuguese presidential election was just such a shock. The leader of the national populist Chega party broke through the previous duopoly of the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Party.
This result forced a surprise matchup against the Socialist Party’s António José Seguro. While Seguro came out on top in the second (and final) round of Portugal’s presidential election on Feb. 8, the election still holds valuable lessons for European conservatives in 2026.
Portugal’s presidential election, like many in Europe, has two major differences from American presidential elections.
First is the variety of candidates. Not only did 11 candidates from parties across the political spectrum compete in the first round, but multiple candidates had a credible shot at the second round.
Second, unlike America’s first past the post electoral system, the winning presidential candidate in Portugal (and most European countries) must win 50%+1 vote to win, and if no candidate achieves this in the first round, a second-round election is called.
Over the last year, André Ventura has led the Chega party into the limelight in Portuguese politics as they became the leading opposition party in Parliament following the May 18, 2025 election in line with a wave of conservative victories in Europe.
In this context, Ventura improved on his 2021 presidential election performance in 2026 and catapulted Chega into final contention for the presidency for the first time. With over 99% of the vote counted, Ventura came second to Seguro with 33.18% of the vote.
Though he fell short in the second round of the presidential election, Ventura established Chega as the leading party on the right in Portugal by receiving a higher percentage of the votes than Portugal’s Democratic Alliance of the center-right won in the May parliamentary elections.
Despite controversy over his campaign rhetoric on immigration that led to the court-ordered removal of certain campaign posters, voters on the Right responded to his advocacy for conservative principles of sovereignty over immigration and bucking the mainstream elite parties that have governed Portugal for decades.
This is one of the key lessons for conservative politicians in Europe: voters are trending towards the Right, but are fed up with established parties’ milquetoast policy approaches and unwillingness to tighten immigration policies.
Yet, while Ventura’s success in the first round underlines the need for political parties to remain responsive to voter’s concerns, his failure in the second round sounds a warning note for conservatives. Conservatives globally have learned the strength of partnership from prior progressive groupings as they develop policies, but they too often fail to unify in elections.
This was on display in Portugal over the past month as Ventura was the only representative of the political Right in the second round. Yet, other conservative Portuguese politicians actively endorsed the progressive candidate, António José Seguro, rather than leaving the …
Trust is earned, not demanded.
When an election produces results not seen in decades, it is a shock to the system. Andre Ventura’s second place finish in the first round of the Portuguese presidential election was just such a shock. The leader of the national populist Chega party broke through the previous duopoly of the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Party.
This result forced a surprise matchup against the Socialist Party’s António José Seguro. While Seguro came out on top in the second (and final) round of Portugal’s presidential election on Feb. 8, the election still holds valuable lessons for European conservatives in 2026.
Portugal’s presidential election, like many in Europe, has two major differences from American presidential elections.
First is the variety of candidates. Not only did 11 candidates from parties across the political spectrum compete in the first round, but multiple candidates had a credible shot at the second round.
Second, unlike America’s first past the post electoral system, the winning presidential candidate in Portugal (and most European countries) must win 50%+1 vote to win, and if no candidate achieves this in the first round, a second-round election is called.
Over the last year, André Ventura has led the Chega party into the limelight in Portuguese politics as they became the leading opposition party in Parliament following the May 18, 2025 election in line with a wave of conservative victories in Europe.
In this context, Ventura improved on his 2021 presidential election performance in 2026 and catapulted Chega into final contention for the presidency for the first time. With over 99% of the vote counted, Ventura came second to Seguro with 33.18% of the vote.
Though he fell short in the second round of the presidential election, Ventura established Chega as the leading party on the right in Portugal by receiving a higher percentage of the votes than Portugal’s Democratic Alliance of the center-right won in the May parliamentary elections.
Despite controversy over his campaign rhetoric on immigration that led to the court-ordered removal of certain campaign posters, voters on the Right responded to his advocacy for conservative principles of sovereignty over immigration and bucking the mainstream elite parties that have governed Portugal for decades.
This is one of the key lessons for conservative politicians in Europe: voters are trending towards the Right, but are fed up with established parties’ milquetoast policy approaches and unwillingness to tighten immigration policies.
Yet, while Ventura’s success in the first round underlines the need for political parties to remain responsive to voter’s concerns, his failure in the second round sounds a warning note for conservatives. Conservatives globally have learned the strength of partnership from prior progressive groupings as they develop policies, but they too often fail to unify in elections.
This was on display in Portugal over the past month as Ventura was the only representative of the political Right in the second round. Yet, other conservative Portuguese politicians actively endorsed the progressive candidate, António José Seguro, rather than leaving the …
Lessons From Portugal for European Conservatives
Trust is earned, not demanded.
When an election produces results not seen in decades, it is a shock to the system. Andre Ventura’s second place finish in the first round of the Portuguese presidential election was just such a shock. The leader of the national populist Chega party broke through the previous duopoly of the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Party.
This result forced a surprise matchup against the Socialist Party’s António José Seguro. While Seguro came out on top in the second (and final) round of Portugal’s presidential election on Feb. 8, the election still holds valuable lessons for European conservatives in 2026.
Portugal’s presidential election, like many in Europe, has two major differences from American presidential elections.
First is the variety of candidates. Not only did 11 candidates from parties across the political spectrum compete in the first round, but multiple candidates had a credible shot at the second round.
Second, unlike America’s first past the post electoral system, the winning presidential candidate in Portugal (and most European countries) must win 50%+1 vote to win, and if no candidate achieves this in the first round, a second-round election is called.
Over the last year, André Ventura has led the Chega party into the limelight in Portuguese politics as they became the leading opposition party in Parliament following the May 18, 2025 election in line with a wave of conservative victories in Europe.
In this context, Ventura improved on his 2021 presidential election performance in 2026 and catapulted Chega into final contention for the presidency for the first time. With over 99% of the vote counted, Ventura came second to Seguro with 33.18% of the vote.
Though he fell short in the second round of the presidential election, Ventura established Chega as the leading party on the right in Portugal by receiving a higher percentage of the votes than Portugal’s Democratic Alliance of the center-right won in the May parliamentary elections.
Despite controversy over his campaign rhetoric on immigration that led to the court-ordered removal of certain campaign posters, voters on the Right responded to his advocacy for conservative principles of sovereignty over immigration and bucking the mainstream elite parties that have governed Portugal for decades.
This is one of the key lessons for conservative politicians in Europe: voters are trending towards the Right, but are fed up with established parties’ milquetoast policy approaches and unwillingness to tighten immigration policies.
Yet, while Ventura’s success in the first round underlines the need for political parties to remain responsive to voter’s concerns, his failure in the second round sounds a warning note for conservatives. Conservatives globally have learned the strength of partnership from prior progressive groupings as they develop policies, but they too often fail to unify in elections.
This was on display in Portugal over the past month as Ventura was the only representative of the political Right in the second round. Yet, other conservative Portuguese politicians actively endorsed the progressive candidate, António José Seguro, rather than leaving the …
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