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António José Seguro

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"Seguro" redirects here. For the Mexican footballer, see Juan Ángel Seguro.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Martins and the second or paternal family name is Seguro.
António José Seguro
Seguro in 2025
President-elect of Portugal
Assuming office
9 March 2026
Prime MinisterLuís Montenegro
SucceedingMarcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
In office
23 July 2011 – 28 September 2014
President
Preceded byJosé Sócrates
Succeeded byAntónio Costa
Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister
In office
3 July 2001 – 8 April 2002
Prime MinisterAntónio Guterres
Preceded byArmando Vara
Succeeded byJosé Luís Arnaut
Secretary-General of the Socialist Youth
In office
29 April 1990 – 6 March 1994
Preceded byJosé Apolinário
Succeeded bySérgio Sousa Pinto
Junior cabinet offices
Secretary of State Assistant to the Prime Minister
In office
25 November 1997 – 20 July 1999
Prime MinisterAntónio Guterres
Preceded byLuís Marques Guedes
Succeeded byVitalino Canas
Secretary of State for Youth Affairs
In office
28 October 1995 – 25 November 1997
Prime MinisterAntónio Guterres
Preceded byMaria do Céu Ramos
Succeeded byMiguel Fontes
Parliamentary offices
President of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party
In office
31 March 2004 – 9 March 2005
Preceded byAntónio Costa
Succeeded byAlberto Martins
Member of the Assembly of the Republic[1][2]
In office
10 March 2005 – 8 October 2014
ConstituencyBraga
In office
5 April 2002 – 9 March 2005
ConstituencyLisbon
In office
4 November 1991 – 26 October 1995
ConstituencyPorto
Member of the European Parliament
In office
20 July 1999 – 2 July 2001
ConstituencyPortugal
Personal details
BornAntónio José Martins Seguro
(1962-03-11) 11 March 1962 (age 63)
Penamacor, Castelo Branco, Portugal
PartySocialist Party (since 1980)
Spouse
Margarida Maldonado Freitas
​
​
(m. 2001)​
Children2
Alma mater

António José Martins Seguro[a] (born 11 March 1962) is a Portuguese politician for the Socialist Party (PS) who is the President-elect of Portugal after winning the 2026 Portuguese presidential election. Seguro previously served as Secretary-General of the PS from 2011 until September 2014, during which time he was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Portuguese Parliament.

Early life and education

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Seguro was born on 11 March 1962 in Penamacor, the third and youngest son of Domingos Sanches Seguro (1926–2017) and Maria do Céu Martins (1927–2011). The family comprised mostly rural workers the from Beira Baixa region; Seguro's father, Domingos, ran a newsagent's.[3] He entered politics at a very young age and became a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) as a youth. He attended the 1st cycle program in business organization and management at the ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, but he did not graduate. Seguro has a degree in international relations awarded later by the Autonomous University of Lisbon.

Career

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Early activism, minister, and MEP

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Seguro became involved in political activities from a very young age, always linked to the Socialist Party (PS). He was successively secretary general of Socialist Youth, president of the National Youth Council and chairman of the Youth Forum of the European Communities. He was first elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1991.[4] In 1995, the Socialist Party won the parliamentary elections, leaving the leader António Guterres to form a government. Seguro initially was Secretary of State for Youth Affairs and, starting in 1997, Secretary of State Assistant to the Prime Minister. He also played the role of coordinator of the Standing Committee of the Portuguese Socialist Party and president of the Municipal Assembly of Penamacor. In 1999, Seguro was elected as a Member of the European Parliament, being the second name in a list led by former President Mário Soares.[5]

Seguro served as an MEP between July 1999 and July 2001, being an effective member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (in these functions he was co-author of the Report on the Treaty of Nice and the Future of the European Union),[6] and was also a substitute for the Commission for Employment and Social Affairs. He was also president of the Delegation for Relations with Central America and Mexico, vice president of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and president of the Portuguese Socialist delegation.[7]

Seguro resigned as an MEP in 2001 to serve as Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, again under António Guterres.[4] In 2002, he returned to the Assembly of the Republic, serving as the Socialist Parliamentary leader from 2004 to 2005. He was also appointed member of the National Secretariat of the Socialist Party. He accumulated these positions with membership in the Municipal Assembly of Gouveia after being elected in the 2001 local elections.[8]

After Ferro Rodrigues' resignation as Secretary-general of PS in 2004, Seguro was considered as a potential candidate for the leadership election, but he was convinced by Jorge Coelho not to run since it was "not his time".[5] He opposed the leadership of José Sócrates in several moments, breaking party discipline to vote against the party finances law, oppose consumption tax increases and defending a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.[5]

Secretary-general of the Socialist Party

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Seguro on the election night of the 2014 European Parliament election in Portugal

After Prime Minister José Sócrates resigned as PS General Secretary on the election night of 5 June 2011, having lost the general election by a margin higher than expected, Seguro was elected leader of the party on 23 July 2011, winning 68% of the vote against his challenger, Francisco Assis, who got 32%.[9]

As secretary-general, Seguro decided to abstain in the 2012 State Budget proposed by the Passos Coelho government, citing his decision as a "violent, but constructive abstention",[10] a decision that ended up attracting criticism from inside the PS. Under Seguro's leadership, the Socialist Party managed to achieve one of its best results ever in the 2013 local elections and won the 2014 European Parliament election in Portugal with Francisco Assis as the main candidate, although by a narrow margin. The results of the 2014 elections were considered narrow and insufficient, which motivated the Mayor of Lisbon António Costa to defy Seguro and run for the party leadership.[4]

At the first primaries open to party supporters, Costa defeated Seguro by a landslide. Seguro resigned from the leadership the same day, leaving Costa as Secretary-general.[11] Seguro then retired to private life. Having successfully defended his Master thesis, he started teaching in the Department of International Relations of the Autonomous University of Lisbon.[12]

2026 presidential campaign

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Main article: 2026 Portuguese presidential election
2026 António José Seguro presidential campaign
CampaignPresident of Portugal in the 2026 Portuguese presidential election
CandidateAntónio José Seguro, former Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (2011–2014)
AffiliationSocialist Party
Status
  • Announcement: 4 June 2025
  • Campaign launch: 15 June 2025
  • Formalized candidacy: 15 December 2025
Key people
SloganFuturo Seguro ("Safe Future")
Website
seguropresidente.pt

In October 2024, then PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos mentioned Seguro as a potential candidate for president from the Socialist Party in the 2026 presidential election.[13] In November 2024, after being mostly out of the spotlight since 2014, Seguro gave an interview to CNN Portugal as he was starting a role as a political commentator on the channel, stating that he was interested in running for President.[14] Seguro then positioned himself as the main candidate from the party in opposition to others like Mário Centeno, António Vitorino and Augusto Santos Silva.[15][16] He also founded the movement UPortugal, with the intention of promoting a greater participation from the citizens and fighting misinformation.[17] In June 2025, he announced he was running for President, stating that "the country needs change and hope in a better life", defining his candidacy as a progressive alternative to the other conservative candidates, such as Luís Marques Mendes and Henrique Gouveia e Melo.[18]

Seguro launched his campaign on 15 June 2025, in Caldas da Rainha, with the presence of major PS personalities like Francisco Assis, Alberto Martins, Maria de Belém Roseira, João Soares and Álvaro Beleza,[19] saying that, after leaving politics at a time when he could divide the party, he was now returning with the intention to unite the country.[20] In the coming weeks, Seguro gained the support of most of the establishment of the PS, receiving the endorsement of more than half of the party federation chairs[21] and more than 100 incumbent mayors.[22] Despite that, José Luís Carneiro, the leader of PS, said that the party would only officially back any of the presidential candidates after the 12 October local elections.[23]

Seguro delivering the victory speech on the night of the first round of the 2026 election

Seguro received the official support of the Socialist Party on 19 October 2025, with the proposal for his support being written by the Secretary-general José Luís Carneiro and by the party's president Carlos César.[24] Seguro chose scientist Maria do Carmo Fonseca as his national campaign chair,[25] MP Paulo Lopes Silva as his campaign director,[26] and former minister Guilherme d'Oliveira Martins as campaign chair for the Lisbon district.[27] Seguro formalized his candidacy on 15 December 2025, delivering 10,000 signatures to the Constitutional Court.[28]

In the first round of the 2026 presidential election on 18 January, no candidates secured a majority; Seguro won a relative majority of 31%, and André Ventura (leader of the right-wing populist party Chega) came second with 23.5%; the two most-voted candidates will face each other in a second round run-off on 8 February.[29] This will be only the second time that a direct Portuguese presidential election is not won on the first ballot, as in the 1986 election.[30] In his first-round victory speech, in Caldas da Rainha Cultural and Congress Centre, a hoarse Seguro underlined the non-partisan nature of his campaign and invited all "democrats, progressives, and humanists" to support him in the second round in order to "defeat extremism and those who sow hatred and division among the Portuguese", distancing himself from his opponent.[31] On the election night and the following day, Seguro received the endorsement of several important figures of the centre-right to right-wing political parties PSD (Miguel Poiares Maduro, Pedro Duarte, José Eduardo Martins, António Capucho, José Miguel Júdice, José Pacheco Pereira, Aníbal Cavaco Silva),[32] Liberal Initiative (Mário Amorim Lopes, Rodrigo Saraiva, Carlos Guimarães Pinto), and CDS–PP (Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, Cecília Meireles).[33]

Electoral history

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Legislative elections

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Year Party Constituency Position No. Votes % +/- Status Notes
1985 PS Lisbon ? (out of 56) 4th 255,030
19.80 / 100.00
 Decrease15.95 Not Elected Later joined parliament as an MP.[34]
1991 Porto 9 (out of 37) 2nd 313,893
32.92 / 100.00
 Increase6.19 Elected
1995 Guarda 1 (out of 4) 1st 49,498
43.65 / 100.00
 Increase16.88 Elected
2002 Lisbon 7 (out of 48) 1st 440,790
38.66 / 100
 Decrease4.04 Elected Elected president of the Socialist parliamentary group in 2004.[35]
2005 Braga 1 (out of 18) 1st 218,665
45.44 / 100.00
 Increase8.01 Elected
2009 1 (out of 19) 1st 207,695
41.73 / 100.00
 Decrease3.71 Elected
2011 1 (out of 19) 2nd 159,477
32.85 / 100.00
 Decrease8.88 Elected Elected Secretary-general of the Socialist Party in 2011.[9]

European Parliament elections

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Year Party Position No. Votes % +/- Status Notes
1999 PS 2 (out of 25) 1st 1,493,146
43.07 / 100.00
 Increase8.20 Elected

PS leadership election, 2011

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Main article: 2011 Portuguese Socialist Party leadership election
Ballot: 22 and 23 July 2011
Candidate Votes %
António José Seguro 23,903 68.0
Francisco Assis 11,257 32.0
Blank/Invalid ballots 367 –
Turnout 35,527
Source: Diretas 2011[9]

PS leadership election, 2013

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Ballot: 13 April 2013
Candidate Votes %
António José Seguro 24,843 96.5
Aires Pedro 892 3.5
Blank/Invalid ballots 990 –
Turnout 26,725 62.10
Source: Diretas 2013[36]

PS primary election, 2014

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Main article: 2014 Portuguese Socialist Party prime ministerial primary
Ballot: 28 September 2014
Candidate Votes %
António Costa 120,188 67.8
António José Seguro 55,928 31.5
Blank/Invalid ballots 1,234 0.7
Turnout 177,350 70.71
Source: Resultados[37]

Presidential election, 2026

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Main article: 2026 Portuguese presidential election
Ballot: 18 January and 8 February 2026
Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
António José Seguro 1,755,563 31.1 3,482,481 66.8
André Ventura 1,327,021 23.5 1,729,381 33.2
João Cotrim de Figueiredo 903,057 16.0
Henrique Gouveia e Melo 695,377 12.3
Luís Marques Mendes 637,442 11.3
Catarina Martins 116,407 2.1
António Filipe 92,644 1.6
Manuel João Vieira 60,927 1.1
Jorge Pinto 38,588 0.7
André Pestana 10,897 0.2
Humberto Correia 4,773 0.1
Blank/Invalid ballots 125,840 – 271,520 –
Turnout 5,768,536 52.39 5,483,382 50.11
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[38][39]

Notes

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  1. ^ European Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ʒuˈzɛ mɐɾˈtĩʃ sɨˈɣuɾu]

References

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  1. ^ "António José Seguro, Assembleia da República".
  2. ^ "As legislaturas da Assembleia da República".
  3. ^ ""Essa é de ficar de boca aberta": os primos famosos (e desconhecidos) na árvore genealógica de Seguro" ["That one left my mouth open": the famous (and unknown) cousins in Seguro's family tree]. Observador (in Portuguese). 20 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Da JS à liderança do PS: a vida de António José Seguro, o socialista que sonha com Belém (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 February 2025 – via tvi.iol.pt.
  5. ^ a b c Valente, Liliana. ""Emotivo", "transparente", "formal". Seguro?". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  6. ^ Seguro, António José; de Vigo, Iñigo Méndez (4 May 2001). "REPORT on the Treaty of Nice and the future of the European Union" (PDF). European Parliament.
  7. ^ "5ª legislatura | António José SEGURO | Deputados | Parlamento Europeu". www.europarl.europa.eu (in Portuguese). 11 March 1962. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  8. ^ António José Seguro, In Infopédia [Em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2012. [date retrieved: 23 April 2012].
  9. ^ a b c "António José Seguro eleito líder do PS". Económico (in Portuguese). July 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  10. ^ ""Abstenção do PS vai ser violenta mas construtiva", garante Seguro". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). 6 November 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  11. ^ "António José Seguro demite-se de secretário-geral do PS". www.jornaldenegocios.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  12. ^ "António José Seguro - Autonomous University of Lisbon". Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Pedro Nuno considera Centeno "bom candidato" presidencial mas diz que há outros nomes". www.sabado.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  14. ^ "António José Seguro, a primeira grande entrevista na CNN Portugal: a candidatura à Presidência, a mágoa que não tem de Costa e a vida política que não passa pelo PS". CNN Portugal (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  15. ^ Rui Miguel Godinho; Artur Cassiano (8 February 2025). "Três Antónios, um Augusto e um César que diz "não". PS procura candidato". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Presidenciais: Nem uma voz se ouviu a defender Vitorino na Comissão Nacional do PS". Expresso (in Portuguese). 10 February 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Movimento de António José Seguro faz campanha para sensibilizar contra 'fake news'". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Lusa. 6 April 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  18. ^ "Exclusivo: António José Seguro é candidato à Presidência da República". CNN Portugal (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  19. ^ Cunha, Mariana Lima. "Sem a direção mas com militantes de peso, autarcas e militares. Como Seguro encheu um auditório a jogar em casa". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  20. ^ Santa-Bárbara, Filipe (15 June 2025). "Seguro lança candidatura a Belém: "Afastei-me quando podia dividir, volto agora para unir"". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  21. ^ "Eleições presidenciais: aparelho do PS rende-se à candidatura de António José Seguro". Expresso (in Portuguese). 19 June 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  22. ^ Ralha, Leonardo (10 July 2025). "António José Seguro já tem apoio de 102 presidentes de Câmara socialistas". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  23. ^ "Presidenciais? Só depois das autárquicas, garante José Luís Carneiro". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 21 June 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  24. ^ "PS aprova apoio à candidatura de António José Seguro". RTP (in Portuguese). 19 October 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  25. ^ "Presidenciais: Cientista Maria do Carmo Fonseca é mandatária nacional de Seguro". RTP (in Portuguese). 17 November 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  26. ^ "Paulo Lopes Silva é director nacional de campanha de António José Seguro". Guimarães Digital. 21 October 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  27. ^ Borges, Liliana (10 December 2025). "Guilherme d'Oliveira Martins é mandatário de Seguro em Lisboa". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  28. ^ "António José Seguro formaliza candidatura com entrega de 10 000 assinaturas". CM Jornal (in European Portuguese). 15 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  29. ^ "Center left wins Portugal presidential election first round, exit poll says". Politico. 18 January 2026. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  30. ^ "Portugal votes in tight presidential race with far right poised to reach runoff". The Guardian. Reuters. 18 January 2026. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  31. ^ ""Nothing guaranteed" despite "fantastic result", says Seguro". The Resident. 19 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  32. ^ https://www.dn.pt/pol%C3%ADtica/presidenciais-2026-cavaco-silva-ir-naturalmente-apoiar-seguro
  33. ^ "Os políticos e comentadores de direita que já se posicionaram com Seguro" [The right-wing politicians and pundits that have already sided with Seguro]. Sábado (in Portuguese). 20 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  34. ^ "Biografia". www.parlamento.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  35. ^ "Líderes e Legislaturas". Grupo Parlamentar do Partido Socialista (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  36. ^ "Secretário-Geral reeleito com 96% dos votos". Socialist Party. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  37. ^ "Resultados PS Primárias 2014". PS. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  38. ^ "Comissão Nacional de Eleições Mapa Oficial n.º 1-A/2026" (PDF). cne.pt (in Portuguese). Diário da República. 30 January 2026. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  39. ^ "Resultados Globais". Retrieved 8 February 2026.
[edit]
  • Media related to António José Seguro at Wikimedia Commons
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