Prime Minister of Portugal
Head of government
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Through Portugal, Middle Ages and Chancellor
There is no limit to the number of terms a person can serve as prime minister. The prime minister is appointed by the president following legislative elections, after having heard the parties represented in the parliament. Usually, the person named is the leader of the largest party in the previous election, but there have been exceptions over the years.
History
Since the Middle Ages, some officers of the Portuguese Crown gained precedence over the others, serving as a kind of prime ministers. Over time, the role of principal officer of the Crown fell upon the chancellor, the mayor of the palace, and the king's private secretary.
The first modern prime minister of Portugal was the 1st Duke of Palmela, who was sworn in on 24 September 1834, as president of the Council of Ministers. In 1911, with the Republic, the official title of the prime minister became president of the Ministry. In 1933, with the Estado Novo regime, it became again president of the Council of Ministers.
The present title prime minister, attributed to the head of the Government of Portugal, was officially established by the Constitution of 1976 after the revolution of 25 April 1974.
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Powers
Nominated by the President, the Prime Minister leads the Government, the entity that conducts all general policy of the country, with its composition being its responsibility, as well as the competencies that each ministry will have. As head of the Government, it coordinates policy action with all ministries, as well as all relations with every state body. In theory, the Prime Minister isn't hierarchically superior to the other members of the Government, however, in political terms, he is, since he is appointed by the President and any government member is proposed, and only responds, to the Prime Minister.
As the main political figure of the country, the Prime Minister is the sole executive leader, proposing policies to the Assembly of the Republic via cabinet approval, signing executive decrees (proposed by cabinet that can bypass an Assembly vote), with his acts as head of the government being scrutinized by the Assembly of the Republic on several occasions, from presenting the Government's program before MPs, through fortnightly debates where the Prime Minister is confronted on several issues, possible motions of no confidence and annual budget votes. The Prime Minister, as the conductor of the country's foreign policy, represents the country abroad (in coordination with the President) and also leads diplomatic efforts on behalf of the country.
Officeholders
The incumbent prime minister of Portugal is Luís Montenegro, who took office on 2 April 2024 as the 14th prime minister of the Third Portuguese Republic.
Prime minister's residence
The official residence of the prime minister is the São Bento Mansion, a mansion next to São Bento Palace, which, in confusion, is sometimes also called "São Bento Palace".
Located behind the main building of the Assembly of the Republic, in the parish of Estrela, Lisbon, the mansion serves as residence and office for the prime minister of Portugal, and its family if that's the case. The mansion, dated from 1877, was built within the garden of the old monastery that held the Portuguese parliament. It has been the prime minister's official residence since 1938, when Salazar moved in. Although it is the official residence of the prime minister, not all incumbents have lived in the mansion during their term in office. Of the 17 Prime Ministers since 1974, only six used the mansion as its residence. The incumbent Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, currently resides in the mansion.
List of prime ministers of Portugal
Term of office in years
Graphical timeline (since 1976)
Living former prime ministers of Portugal
Living former prime minister showing periods in office with dates of birth and age. Currently there are 7 former Prime Ministers alive:
Historical rankings of prime ministers
In 2012 and 2014 newspaper i and the polling agency Pitagórica conducted polls asking for the best Portuguese prime minister among the seven most recent ones (i.e. in the previous 30 years). The results revealed that the public clearly separated the seven evaluated prime ministers between the three best ones (each receiving more than 20% of the votes) and the four worst (each receiving from 4 to 8% of the votes). In both polls, António Guterres (1995–2002) ranked as the best prime minister. Mário Soares (1976–78 and 1983–85) and Aníbal Cavaco Silva (1985–95) were also among the best prime ministers. On the other hand, José Manuel Durão Barroso (2002–04), Pedro Santana Lopes (2004–05), José Sócrates (2005–11) and Pedro Passos Coelho (2011–15, incumbent at the time of the polls) ranked as the worst prime ministers. Pedro Santana Lopes was ranked the worst in the 2012 poll while Barroso ranked as the worst in the 2014 one. Together, the three best prime ministers ruled Portugal uninterruptedly from 1983 to 2002, while the four worst ruled from 2002 to 2015.