PSD Plots National Comeback After Commanding Municipal Wins

A jubilant but unmistakably business-minded atmosphere has swept through the upper floors of the Partido Social Democrata (PSD). Forty-eight hours after voters handed the centre-right force its most decisive local win in a generation in Sunday’s municipal elections on 28 September 2025, the party’s top brass met behind closed doors in Lisbon to decide how to turn fresh municipal control into lasting political capital.

A swift post-election huddle

The Permanent Commission—the PSD’s eight-member power core led by party leader Luís Montenegro—gathered in a downtown hotel rather than at party headquarters, a choice insiders say underlined the desire for discretion. Officially, the conversation revolved around “technical analysis of district-level data”, but participants admit the larger question was how to convert a wave of orange banners at town halls into momentum for the legislative race that looms in just over a year.

How the map turned orange overnight

When counting ended late Sunday, 28 September, the PSD could claim 136 mayoralties, 22 more than in 2021, and majority rule in 109 of them. More symbolically, the party now governs the five most populous municipalities—Lisbon, Porto, Cascais, Vila Nova de Gaia and Sintra—either alone or with long-standing allies from the CDS-PP. The upset that stunned party strategists most was Guimarães, a Socialist bastion since 1976. Even in losses, the numbers favoured Montenegro: while Bragança, Viseu, Coimbra and Faro slipped back to the PS, the right seized Beja for the first time, signalling an ideological shift even in the Alentejo heartland.

From town halls to national leverage

Control of so many councils gives the PSD first pick for the presidencies of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) and the Parish Councils’ Federation (Anafre)—posts that influence everything from EU-fund allocation to cultural subsidies. Party strategists argue this institutional foothold will let them brand every new day-care centre or broadband mast as a PSD deliverable. Critics counter that heavy expectations accompany absolute majorities in 109 councils; potholes and planning delays will now have orange fingerprints.

What rivals make of the scorecard

The Socialist Party was quick to highlight its own gains in two district capitals, yet a growing faction inside José Luís Carneiro’s PS called the night “a cold shower”. Further right, Chega celebrated its first three mayors—Albufeira, São Vicente and Entroncamento—while conceding the result fell short of André Ventura’s target of 30. The Iniciativa Liberal chalked up a “breakthrough” year by clinching council seats in alliances with the PSD, most visibly in Lisbon and Porto. On the left, Bloco de Esquerda and CDU acknowledged a “modest” showing and warned of an electorate drifting rightward.

Eye on 2026: storm clouds or tailwinds?

Political scientists at the University of Minho describe local ballots as Portugal’s “mid-term exam”. On that metric, Montenegro passed with honours, but sustaining approval until the 2026 legislative vote requires taming inflation, delivering EU Recovery Fund projects and keeping coalition partners satisfied. Observers note that success at parish level rarely insulates a governing party from economic headwinds, pointing to the PS’s own slide after its 2017 municipal high.

The road ahead for Montenegro’s inner circle

Sources close to the Permanent Commission hint at three immediate priorities: negotiating leadership of the ANMP, drafting a visible package of municipal tax rebates before Christmas, and launching a listening tour in the seven district capitals the party failed to win. Vice-president Leonor Beleza is slated to unveil details early this week. For now, PSD supporters in cafés from Chaves to Faro are savouring a result they hoped for but did not quite expect: their party is once again the dominant force on Portugal’s political map, and the clock to 2026 has officially started.