The PSD has once again won the regional elections in Madeira, winning 43.43% of the votes. With 23 deputies elected, Miguel Albuquerque’s party is one term away from an absolute majority. The night’s big loser was the PS, which fell behind the JPP and lost three MPs.

The results of this Sunday’s elections give PSD Madeira a clear victory, with 43.43% of the votes. Thus, Miguel Albuquerque’s party elected 23 deputies, four more than in the last elections. Abstention stood at 44.02%, lower than the 46.60% recorded in the previous elections.

In second place came the JPP, which overtook the PS for the first time. Juntos Pelo Povo won 21.05% of the vote and eleven seats, two more than in the last elections.

In third place came the PS, the big loser of the night. The Socialist Party won 15.64% of the vote, which equates to eight deputies – three fewer than those elected last year.

Chega won 5.47% of the vote and lost one MP, leaving it with three. The CDS-PP lost one MP, electing just one, as did the Liberal Initiative.

The PAN received 1.62% of the votes and lost its sole deputy in the Assembly. The CDU and the Left Bloc also remain excluded from the regional parliament, having won 1.78% and 1.11% of the vote, respectively.


Miguel Albuquerque celebrated the PSD’s “great victory” in Madeira’s regional elections, stressing that this was “a clear defeat for the left-wing coalition and the male-dominated agenda.”

Despite falling short of an absolute majority, the President of the Regional Government pointed out that the party achieved its highest vote since 2015.

“The PSD won in ten of the eleven municipalities and in 50 of Madeira’s 54 parishes. We got 13,000 more votes and had the biggest vote ever for the PSD Madeira since I took over the leadership,” Albuquerque said, stressing that he was only 300 votes away from electing the 24th deputy and obtaining an absolute majority.

Miguel Albuquerque has governed Madeira since 2015, coming to power after almost four decades of Alberto João Jardim leading the Madeira PSD and the regional government. In the last ten years, Albuquerque has only won an absolute majority for the PSD in the first elections.

In the last three elections, the Social Democrats have fallen short of this goal, needing the CDS-PP and then the PAN to govern.

Asked about a possible coalition with the CDS-PP, as he did in the last elections, Miguel Albuquerque says that he hasn’t spoken to anyone yet and that they will do so “calmly.” “It’s clear that our privileged partners all know who they are,” he added.

On the CDS-PP side, Nuno Melo says that the decision on a possible parliamentary agreement is up to the party’s representation in Madeira, but he doesn’t rule it out.

On the other hand, the President of the Republic takes for granted an “absolute majority” in Madeira between the PSD and CDS MPs, stating that the Madeirans “chose the solution of stability and not really alternative solutions.”


This Sunday’s elections were the third in a year and a half. They were called following the approval of an unprecedented motion of censure last December, the first time a regional government in Madeira has fallen by this means in 50 years of democracy.

The motion was tabled by Chega following the rejection of Madeira’s budget, which prolonged the political crisis in Madeira, which has been dragging on since the police mega-operation launched in January 2024.

At the time, more than a hundred inspectors from the Judicial Police and other experts from the mainland traveled to Madeira to carry out hundreds of searches on suspicion of active and passive corruption, economic participation in business, malfeasance, receiving or offering undue advantage, abuse of power and influence peddling.

The regional government president, Miguel Albuquerque, was named a defendant in the case but refused to resign.

In RTP (Portuguese Public Television)

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.