| Election Name: | 2010 Social Democratic Party leadership election |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2008 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2012 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election |
| Next Year: | 2012 |
| Election Date: | 26 March 2010 |
| Turnout: | 66.3% 7.2 pp |
| Candidate1: | Pedro Passos Coelho |
| Colour1: | FF9900 |
| Popular Vote1: | 31,671 |
| Percentage1: | 61.2% |
| Candidate2: | Paulo Rangel |
| Colour2: | FF9900 |
| Popular Vote2: | 17,821 |
| Percentage2: | 34.4% |
| Candidate3: | José Pedro Aguiar-Branco |
| Colour3: | FF9900 |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,769 |
| Percentage3: | 3.4% |
| Leader | |
| Before Election: | Manuela Ferreira Leite |
| After Election: | Pedro Passos Coelho |
The 2010 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 26 March 2010. The leadership election was held after the defeat of the PSD in the 2009 general elections.[1] The then PSD leader, Manuela Ferreira Leite, decided to not contest this leadership election and four candidates entered in the race: Pedro Passos Coelho, candidate also in 2008; Paulo Rangel; José Pedro Aguiar-Branco and Castanheira Barros. On election day, Passos Coelho won the leadership by a landslide, capturing more than 61% of the votes, while Rangel only polled 34%. The other two candidates had results below 4%.[2]
Pedro Passos Coelho would lead the PSD to victory in the 2011 snap general elections and become Prime Minister.[3]
| Name | Born | Experience | Announcement date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pedro Passos Coelho | (age 45) Coimbra | Social Democratic Youth leader (1990–1995) Member of Parliament for Lisbon (1991–1999) | 21 January 2010 | [4] | |
Paulo Rangel | (age 42) Vila Nova de Gaia | Member of the European Parliament (2009–2024) Leader of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Caucus (2008–2009) Member of Parliament for Porto (2005–2009) | 10 February 2010 | [5] | |
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco | (age 52) Porto | Minister of Justice (2004–2005) Member of Parliament for Porto (2005–2015) | 12 February 2010 | [6] | |
| Castanheira Barros | (age 52) Coimbra | Lawyer PSD member | 4 March 2010 | [7] |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Others /Undecided | Lead | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passos Coelho | Paulo Rangel | Aguiar-Branco | Castanheira Barros | |||||||
| Intercampus | 23–24 Mar 2010 | 605 | 36.9 | 25.1 | 9.8 | 1.0 | 27.3 | 11.8 | ||
| Marktest | 16–21 Mar 2010 | 808 | 34.7 | 22.9 | 6.3 | 36.1 | 11.8 | |||
| Euroexpansão | 16–21 Mar 2010 | 928 | 33.0 | 22.0 | 5.1 | 0.6 | 39.3 | 11.0 | ||
| CESOP–UCP | 6–9 Mar 2010 | 1,148 | 27 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 43 | 5 | ||
| Eurosondagem | 4–9 Mar 2010 | 1,019 | 47.1 | 22.1 | 15.9 | 1.9 | 13.0 | 25.0 | ||
| Aximage | 17–19 Feb 2010 | 600 | 41.9 | 37.1 | 12.2 | 8.8 | 4.8 |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Others /Undecided | Lead | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passos Coelho | Paulo Rangel | Aguiar-Branco | Castanheira Barros | |||||||
| Intercampus (PSD voters) | 23–24 Mar 2010 | 180 | 43.3 | 36.7 | 9.2 | 1.4 | 8.9 | 6.6 | ||
| Marktest (PSD voters) | 16–21 Mar 2010 | 140 | 42.2 | 28.9 | 6.7 | 22.2 | 13.3 | |||
| Euroexpansão (PSD voters) | 16–21 Mar 2010 | 293 | 43.0 | 33.8 | 5.1 | 0.3 | 17.8 | 9.2 | ||
| Pitagórica (PSD members) | 15–21 Mar 2010 | 612 | 48.8 | 38.8 | 4.8 | 0.3 | 7.2 | 10.0 | ||
| Pitagórica (PSD members) | 10–14 Mar 2010 | 541 | 52.3 | 31.3 | 7.8 | 1.0 | 7.6 | 21.0 | ||
| CESOP–UCP (PSD voters) | 6–9 Mar 2010 | ? | 35 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 25 | 5 |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Ferreira Leite | Marques Mendes | Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa | Paulo Rangel | Pedro Passos Coelho | Aguiar-Branco | Nuno Morais Sarmento | Rui Rio | Others /Undecided | Lead | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercampus | 23–27 Feb 2010 | 1,015 | 0.4 | 27.7 | 20.0 | 25.5 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 18.2 | 2.2 | ||||
| Aximage | 17–19 Feb 2010 | 600 | 46.7 | 7.5 | 16.1 | 1.9 | 25.0 | 2.8 | 21.7 | |||||
| Eurosondagem | 4–9 Feb 2010 | 1,025 | 3.2 | 6.7 | 30.9 | 4.7 | 24.4 | 15.8 | 2.0 | 12.3 | 6.5 |
| Candidate | 26 March 2010 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |||||
| Pedro Passos Coelho | 31,671 | 61.20 | ||||
| Paulo Rangel | 17,821 | 34.44 | ||||
| José Pedro Aguiar-Branco | 1,769 | 3.42 | ||||
| Castanheira Barros | 138 | 0.27 | ||||
| Total | 51,399 | |||||
| Valid votes | 51,399 | 99.33 | ||||
| Invalid and blank ballots | 349 | 0.67 | ||||
| Votes cast / turnout | 51,748 | 66.26 | ||||
| Registered voters | 78,094 | |||||
| Sources: Official results | ||||||