Portugal's ruling Socialist Party has won an unexpected outright majority in the general election for only the second time in its history. The election was called when Prime Minister António Costa failed to pass a budget after losing the support of two smaller parties.

Unpredicted Success

The result, was boosted by a higher than expected turnout despite the coronavirus pandemic. It came as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls. It means Portugal will have a stable government to oversee the application of EU pandemic recovery funds. Costa said in his victory speech early on Monday,

 “An absolute majority doesn’t mean absolute power. It doesn’t mean to govern alone. It’s increased responsibility and it means to govern with and for all Portuguese.”

Portugal election results

Seats in parliament

The Socialist Party won 117 seats in the 230 seat parliament, up from 108 in the outgoing assembly. The main opposition center-right Social Democrats won 71 seats.

However, more than a tenth of Portugal's 10 million people were estimated to be isolated due to coronavirus during the election, but the government allowed them to vote in person. Electoral officials wore protection suits to receive them.