electionstracker

Portugal 1985 legislative election

What was the result of the 1985 legislative election in Portugal?

Social Democratic Party won 88 of 250 seats with 30.6% of the vote. 74.2% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Portugal
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Social Democratic Party won 88 of 250 seats with 30.6% of the vote; 74.2% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 3.6 points on 1983.

  • Social Democratic Party 88 +13 seats 30.6% +2.7 points
  • Socialist Party 57 −44 seats 21.3% −15.8 points
  • Democratic Renewal Party 45 18.4%
  • United People Alliance 0 0 seats 15.9% −2.7 points
  • CDS – People's Party 22 −8 seats 10.2% −2.7 points
  • Popular Democratic Union 0 1.3%
  • Portuguese Communist Party 34 −6 seats
  • Portuguese Democratic Movement 3 0 seats
  • Ecology Party -- Greens 1 0 seats
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Portugal 1983 legislative election, party by party.

126 of 250 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 30.6%

    Share of the vote won by Social Democratic Party

    Social Democratic Party won 88 of 250 seats. A majority needs 126.

  2. +13 seats

    Seats gained by Social Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1983. Socialist Party lost 44 seats.

  3. 74.2%

    Voter turnout

    Down 3.6 points on 1983.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Social Democratic Party88+1330.6+2.71,732,288
Socialist Party57−4421.3−15.81,204,321
Democratic Renewal Party4518.41,038,893
United People Alliance0015.9−2.7898,281
CDS – People's Party22−810.2−2.7577,580
Popular Democratic Union01.373,401
Portuguese Communist Party34−6
Portuguese Democratic Movement30
Ecology Party -- Greens10

± is the change against the Portugal 1983 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Social Democratic Party 1,732,288
  • Socialist Party 1,204,321
  • Democratic Renewal Party 1,038,893
  • United People Alliance 898,281
  • CDS – People's Party 577,580
  • Popular Democratic Union 73,401
  • Portuguese Communist Party
  • Portuguese Democratic Movement
  • Ecology Party -- Greens

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

74.2% of the 7,818,981 registered voters cast a ballot (5,798,929 ballots), down 3.6 points on 1983. 5,653,610 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1975.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Social Democratic Party30.6% of votes35.2% of seats
  • Socialist Party21.3% of votes22.8% of seats
  • Democratic Renewal Party18.4% of votes18.0% of seats
  • CDS – People's Party10.2% of votes8.8% of seats
  • United People Alliance15.9% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 15.3 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.8 by votes and 4.3 by seats; Social Democratic Party led Socialist Party by 9.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of