Most are making their debut in Europe
Of the 21 Portuguese members of the European Parliament elected yesterday, there are ‘the young’ with no previous political experience as well as former ministers, mayors and former parliamentary leaders – but most will be making their debut in the assembly.
Lusa has compiled brief biographies of the country’s representatives:
PS Socialists – 8 MEPs
The head of the PS list, Marta Temido, is 50 years old and from Coimbra. She has a PhD in International Health and served as minister of health in three governments, from 2018 to 2022. Her time in office coincided with the emergence and fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Francisco Assis is 59 years old and was born in Amarante. A university lecturer and politician, he now returns to the European Parliament, where he previously served as an MEP between 2004 and 2009. He also served as mayor of Amarante between 1989 and 1995.
Ana Catarina Mendes was born in Lisbon and is 51 years old. She was minister of State and parliamentary affairs in the last Socialist government, led by António Costa until April this year. Between 2015 and 2019 she was deputy secretary-general of the PS.
With a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minho, Bruno Gonçalves is 27 years old and was born in the city of Braga. He was the leader of the Braga Socialist Youth and is the current secretary-general of the youth wing of the Socialist International.
André Rodrigues, who has a law degree, was the candidate nominated by the Azores for the PS national list for the European elections. The 47-year-old is a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and vice-president of the PS parliamentary group.
Carla Tavares is 53 and has been mayor of Amadora since 2013 and president of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area since 2021. She was a member of Portugal’s parliament between 1999 and 2022.
Isilda Gomes is from the district of Guarda and has been mayor of Portimão since 2013. The 73-year-old also chairs the National Association of Socialist Mayors and the Natural Resources Commission of the Committee of the Regions. Between 2007 and 2011 she was civil governor of Faro district.
Sérgio Gonçalves is 45 years old and has a degree in economics and a Master’s degree in International Management. He has been a PS deputy in the Legislative Assembly the Autonomous Region of Madeira since 2019. He was president of PS-Madeira.
AD (Democratic Alliance) – 7 MEPs
Lead candidate and independent Sebastião Bugalho, five others from centre-right PSD and one from CDS-PP, the conservative People’s Party:
Sebastião Bugalho, 28, studied political science at the Catholic University’s Institute of Political Studies. In 2019 he ran as an independent on the CDS-PP list of candidates for the European elections; he was not elected and later declined the chance to step up when one of the seats that were taken up became vacant. He has been a television commentator and newspaper columnist.
Ana Miguel Pedro, 35, is a member of the CDS-PP national political committee. With a Master’s degree in Law and Economic Sciences from the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, she has worked an advisor to the CDS-PP in the European Parliament.
Paulo Cunha was born in August 1971 and has a law degree from the Lusíadas University in Porto. Born in Vila Nova de Famalicão, a municipality he chaired between 2013 and 2021, Paulo Cunha has been vice-president of the PSD since July.
Helder Sousa Silva, 59, is the mayor of Mafra. A native of the municipality he leads, he is also vice-president of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
Lídia Pereira, 31, from Coimbra, was number two on the PSD list of candidates for the 2019 European elections. In April, she was unanimously elected to the vice-presidency of the European People’s Party (EPP) parliamentary group, taking over the position held by Paulo Rangel, after he was appointed Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs.
Sérgio Humberto was born in November 1975 in Trofa, the municipality he has led as mayor since 2013. He has previously been a member of Portugal’s parliament, and has been president of the Porto district PSD since September 2022.
Paulo Nascimento Cabral, 51, is a counsellor for the Azores and Energy at REPER – Portugal’s Permanent Representation to the European Union. He has previously worked as an advisor and head of the PSD MEPs’ office in the European Parliament.
CHEGA – 2 MEPs (for first time in Europe)
CHEGA’s list leader, António Tânger Corrêa, is 72 years old and originally from Lisbon. He held diplomatic posts for 40 years, having been consul general of Portugal in Goa and in Rio de Janeiro, ambassador to Bosnia, Serbia, Israel, Egypt, Qatar, Lithuania and first secretary at Portugal’s embassy in Beijing. He is currently first vice-president of the national leadership of the party.
Tiago Moreira de Sá, a former PSD member, was born in Lisbon 53 years ago and is a professor at Lisbon’s Nova University and a researcher at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations. He served as a member of parliament from 2022.
Liberal Iniciative, 2 MEPs (for first time in Europe)
IL’s lead candidate, 62-year-old João Cotrim de Figueiredo, was the party’s first member of parliament, elected in 2019. Born in Lisbon, Cotrim de Figueiredo was re-elected in the 2022 legislative elections and was party leader from 2019 to 2023.
Ana Martins, who was born in the Azores but lives in Lisbon, has a law degree and specialises in political science. In 2019, as an independent, she was fourth on the IL list in the European Parliament elections and also headed the list for the Azores in the national legislative elections in March.
Bloco de Esquerda, one MEP
The head of BE’s list, Catarina Martins, is a 50-year-old from Porto. She was the national coordinator of the Left Bloc between 2012 and 2023, as well as a member of Portugal’s parliament between 2009 and 2023.
CDU (communist coalition), one MEP
Lead candidate, João Oliveira, 44, was a member of parliament between 2007 and 2022. Born in Évora and with a law degree, he was the PCP’s parliamentary leader between 2013 and 2022.
LUSA
