José Luís Carneiro

José Luís Pereira Carneiro is a Portuguese politician from the Socialist Party and has been the party's [Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist Party (Portugal)|Secretary-General] since 28 June 2025.

Political career

José Luís Carneiro was first elected as a councillor to the municipality of Baião in the 1997 Portuguese local elections. In the 2005 Portuguese legislative election he was elected for the Assembly of the Republic from Porto, before resigning from that post in order to run for mayor of Baião in the 2005 Portuguese local elections, which he won with 51% of the votes, being re-elected with landslide margins in the 2009 and 2013 local elections.
After 10 years in office as mayor, Carneiro resigned from the post to become Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities during António Costa's first government. After that, Costa choose him as deputy secretary-general of the Socialist Party. Carneiro served as Minister of Internal Administration in the XXIII Constitutional Government of Portugal from 2022 to 2024.
Polling in 2023 found him to be the most popular minister in the government of Costa. Following Costa's resignation as the prime minister of Portugal, Carneiro was a candidate for the leadership of the PS. On 16 December 2023, he lost against Pedro Nuno Santos in an internal vote. He was the lead candidate in Braga for the 2025 Portuguese legislative election.
Carneiro was reportedly a possible contender for the 2026 Portuguese presidential election but declined to be a candidate. After the Socialists' weak results in the 2025 Portuguese legislative election, where the party fell to third place in terms of seats, behind the far-right party Chega, a leadership ballot was called for 27 and 28 June 2025. Carneiro announced his candidacy and was the only candidate on the ballot, resulting in him becoming the next PS Secretary-General. On 28 June 2025, the PS announced that Carneiro had been elected Secretary-General.

Personal life

José Luís Carneiro is married with Maria Goreti Carneiro and has two children.

Electoral history

Baião City Council election, 2005

Baião City Council election, 2009

Baião City Council election, 2013

PS leadership election, 2023

! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate
! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes
! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

PS leadership election, 2025

! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate
! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes
! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%