section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: A snap legislative election took place in Portugal on 18 May 2025 to elect members of the Assembly of the Republic for the 17th Legislature. All 230 seats to the Assembly of the Republic were up for election.
  
  Following allegations of conflicts of interest in relation to the Prime Minister's family business, the incumbent government called a confidence vote, which it lost on 11 March 2025. The President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, then called an election for 18 May: the third legislative election in less than four years.
  
  The centre-right to right-wing Democratic Alliance (AD), led by the incumbent Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, won the largest number of seats. Compared to the 2024 election, the AD increased its vote share to 32%, and received 91 seats. However, this still fell short of the 116 seats required for a majority. The far-right populist party Chega (CH) increased its vote share to nearly 23% and won 60 seats, thus becoming the second largest party in Parliament. The Socialist Party (PS) suffered one of its worst defeats ever, falling to third place with also nearly 23% of the votes and gathering a total of 58 seats.
  
  Turnout in the election was 58.3%, the third highest since 2005, and in Portugal alone, turnout rose to 64.4%, a slight decrease compared with the 66.2% in the previous election in 2024.