2001 Lisbon local election

The 2001 Lisbon local election was held on 16 December 2001 to elect the members of the Lisbon City Council.
In an election that was considered an upset, incumbent mayor João Soares, running in a coalition between the Socialists, the Communists and the Greens, lost reelection against Pedro Santana Lopes, the Social Democratic candidate, who beat João Soares with a very narrow margin of less than 1000 votes. The terrible results in this election ultimately led to Prime Minister António Guterres' resignation.
Paulo Portas, the CDS – People's Party candidate, won one seat in the city council, while Miguel Portas, the Left Bloc candidate, failed to be elected.

Background

In the 1997 election, the coalition between the Socialist Party, the Unitary Democratic Coalition and the People's Democratic Union, led by João Soares, the son of former president Mário Soares, won with an absolute majority, achieving 51.9% of the votes and 10 seats in the city council. They defeated the coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party, led by Ferreira do Amaral, who got 39.3% of the votes and 7 seats.

Electoral system

Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post. The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method. Unlike in national legislative elections, independent lists are allowed to run.

Results

Municipal Council

! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Councillors
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±

Municipal Assembly

! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Seats
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|Total
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|±

Parish Assemblies