1987 European Parliament election in Portugal

The European Parliament election of 1987 in Portugal took place on 19 July 1987.[1] It was the election of all 24[1] MEPs representing the Portugal constituency for the remainder of the 1984–1989 term of the European Parliament. Portugal had acceded to the European Community on 1 January 1986 and had been represented in the European Parliament by 24 appointed delegates until elections could be held. These elections took place on the same day of the legislative elections of 1987.

1987 European Parliament election in Portugal
19 July 1987
24 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout72.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Pedro Santana Lopes Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Francisco Lucas Pires
Party PSD PS CDS
Alliance ALDE PES EPP
Seats won 10 6 4
Popular vote 2,111,828 1,267,672 868,718
Percentage 37.5% 22.5% 15.4%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Ângelo Veloso José Medeiros Ferreira
Party CDU PRD
Alliance COM EDA
Seats won 3 1
Popular vote 648,700 250,158
Percentage 11.5% 4.4%

The Social Democrats (PSD) won the 1st European election by a landslide over the Socialists. The PSD won more than 37% of the votes, 15 points ahead of the PS. Note that a large chunk of the PSD vote in the 1987 legislative elections, held simultaneously with the European election, was from CDS voters that voted PSD in the general election and CDS in the EU elections. Nonetheless, the CDS won 15% of the votes, compared with the 4% in the general election ballot. Together, the center-right parties won 53% of the votes.

The Socialists, headed by former PM Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, suffered a huge defeat, polling just 22%, matching their general election score. The Communist/Green alliance, Democratic Unity Coalition, polled 4th place and won 11.5% of the votes. Finally, the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), also suffered a very heavy defeat, winning just 4% of the votes and electing a sole member for the EU Parliament.

Turnout in these elections was quite high, with 72.4% of voters casting a ballot.

Electoral System

The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 1987 EU election, Portugal had 24 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.

Parties and candidates

The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:[2]

National summary of votes and seats
 Summary of the results of Portugal's 19 July 1987 election to the European Parliament
1987 • 1989 →
National party European party Main candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Social Democratic Party (PSD) LDR Pedro Santana Lopes 2,111,828 37.45 — 10 —
Socialist Party (PS) PES Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo 1,267,672 22.48 — 6 —
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) EPP Francisco Lucas Pires 868,718 15.40 — 4 —
Democratic Unitarian Coalition (CDU)
• Communist Party (PCP)
• Ecologist Party (PEV)		 COM Ângelo Veloso 648,700 11.50 — 3
3
0
—
—
Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) EDA[3] José Medeiros Ferreira 250,158 4.44 — 1 —
People's Monarchist Party (PPM) None 155,990 2.77 — 0 —
Others (parties and candidates that won less than 1% of the vote and no seats) 193,869 3.44 — 0 —
Valid votes 5,496,935 97.45
Blank and invalid votes 142,715 2.53
Totals 5,639,650 100.00 — 24 —
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 7,787,603 72.42
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share
PSD
 
 37.45%
PS
 
 22.48%
CDS
 
 15.40%
CDU
 
 11.50%
PRD
 
 4.44%
PPM
 
 2.77%
UDP
 
 0.92%
PDC
 
 0.72%
PSR
 
 0.51%
Others
 
 1.29%
Blank/Invalid
 
 2.53%

Distribution by European group
Summary of political group distribution in the 2nd European Parliament (1984–1989)[4]
Groups Parties Seats Total %
Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (LDR) 10 10 41.67
Socialist Group (SOC) 6 6 25.00
European People's Party (EPP) 4 4 16.67
Communists and Allies (COM) 3 3 12.50
European Democratic Alliance (EDA) 1 1 4.17
Total 24 24 100.00

Maps

References
  1. "Results of the 19 July 1987 election of the 24 delegates from Portugal to the European Parliament" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  2. Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Deputados
  3. Boissieu, Laurent de. "Élections européennes Portugal". Europe Politique (in French). Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  4. "Elecciones al Parlamento Europeo: Resultados por países 1979 - 2014". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2017.

See also
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