Centre-left candidate Seguro beats far-right to Portugal’s presidency

Antonio Jose Seguro wins Portugal's presidency, defeating far-right Andre Ventura, with strong support from European leaders.

Centre-left candidate Antonio Jose Seguro scored a convincing win over far-right rival Andre Ventura in Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday (February 8, 2026), with the run-off vote held after days of devastating storms.

The result was quickly welcomed by European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron.

With more than 99% of the ballots counted, Mr. Seguro had won 66.8% of the vote to Ventura’s 33.2%. That means the 63-year-old Socialist candidate will, as expected, succeed the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as President.

The election campaign had been upended by two weeks of storms and fierce gales that killed at least seven people and caused an estimated four billion euros ($4.7 billion) in damage.

The storm disruption forced around 20 of the worst-hit constituencies to postpone the vote by a week, but it went ahead for nearly all the 11 million eligible voters in Portugal and abroad.

“The winners tonight are the Portuguese people and democracy,” the president-elect said, pledging to be a leader for “all Portuguese”.