Luís Montenegro
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
3 July 2022
Prime MinisterAntónio Costa
Preceded byRui Rio
President of the Social Democratic Party
Assumed office
3 July 2022
Secretary-GeneralHugo Soares
Preceded byRui Rio
President of the Parliamentary Group of the Social Democratic Party
In office
29 June 2011  19 July 2017
Preceded byMiguel Macedo
Succeeded byHugo Soares
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
In office
5 April 2002  5 April 2018
ConstituencyAveiro
Personal details
Born
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves

(1973-02-16) 16 February 1973
Porto, Portugal
Political partySocial Democratic Party
SpouseCarla Montenegro
Children2
Alma materCatholic University of Portugal
ProfessionLawyer

Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born 16 February 1973)[1] is a Portuguese politician who is the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from the Aveiro District from 2002 to 2018, leading his party's parliamentary group from 2011. He was defeated by Rui Rio in his party's 2020 leadership election, and won against Jorge Moreira da Silva in 2022.

Biography

Education and local politics

Montenegro was born in Porto and raised in Espinho in the Aveiro District.[2] He graduated in Law from the Catholic University of Portugal (the same profession as his father and grandfather),[3] and was president of the Social Democratic Youth in Espinho from 1994 to 1996. He served on the city's council from 1997 to 2001, and ran for mayor in 2005, losing to José Mota of the Socialist Party (PS) by a 45% to 38% margin.[1][4]

Assembly of the Republic

In 2002, 29-year-old Montenegro was elected to the Assembly of the Republic for the Aveiro District. He became the PSD parliamentary group's deputy leader to Miguel Macedo in 2010, and he received 86% of the votes to lead the group in June 2011, after PSD member Pedro Passos Coelho had been elected prime minister.[5]

The early years of Montenegro's leadership coincided with the European troika intervention to deal with the financial crisis; he was criticised in January 2014 for saying "the life of the people is no better, but the life of the country is a lot better".[2] He left parliament in February 2018 after the defeat of Passos Coelho, warning that the PSD should not turn into new leader "Rui Rio's group of friends".[6]

Leader of the PSD

Luís Montenegro, President-elect of the PSD, speaks at the party's 40th National Congress, in 2022

In January 2020, Montenegro was a candidate in the PSD leadership election, challenging Rio. During the campaign, Rio attacked Montenegro for being a Freemason.[7][8] In the run-off, Rio won with 53.2% of the votes.[9]

Rio resigned following the PSD's poor performance in the 2022 Portuguese legislative election. Montenegro was the first person to put himself forward for the party leadership election,[10] in which he ran against former minister Jorge Moreira da Silva. Montenegro won with 72.47% of the votes, beating his opponent in every district.[11]

Political positions

Ahead of the 2024 national elections, Montenegro promised the full privatization of TAP Air Portugal.[12]

Personal life

Montenegro was nicknamed Ervilha ("Pea") as a child for being small, round-figured and green-eyed, while his immediate family knew him by his middle name, Filipe.[3] He took part in football and beach volleyball, and worked as a lifeguard as a youth, later taking up golf.[2] As of May 2022, he is married and has two children.[2]

A variety of sources dating from 2012, including SAPO's Polígrafo fact-checking website, Público, Expresso, Jornal de Negócios and Diário de Notícias maintain that in 2008, Montenegro was admitted into the Mozart Lodge, a Masonic lodge comprising politicians, businessmen and spies.[13][14][15][16][17] In 2019, Montenegro denied being a Freemason.[18]

Electoral history

PSD leadership election, 2020

Ballot: 11 and 18 January 2020
Candidate 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
Rui Rio 15,546 49.0 17,157 53.2
Luís Montenegro 13,137 41.4 15,086 46.8
Miguel Pinto Luz 3,030 9.6  
Blank/Invalid ballots 369 341
Turnout 32,082 79.01 32,582 80.20
Source: Official results

PSD leadership election, 2022

Ballot: 28 May 2022
Candidate Votes %
Luís Montenegro 19,241 72.5
Jorge Moreira da Silva 7,306 27.5
Blank/Invalid ballots 437
Turnout 26,984 60.46
Source: Official results

References

  1. 1 2 "Luís Montenegro, de rosto do Governo de Passos Coelho a candidato a líder do PSD" [Luís Montenegro, from face of Passos Coelho's government to lider of the PSD]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Luís Montenegro, de tribuno nos tempos da troika a 19.º presidente do PSD" [Luís Montenegro, from the benches in the time of the Troika to the 19th president of the PSD]. Público (in Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 Albuquerque, Mariana (22 January 2019). "Luís Montenegro: Filipe na família, Ervilha na escola" [Luís Monetenegro: Filipe in the family, Pea at school]. Notícias Magazine (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  4. "Eleições Autárquicas 2005". STAPE Justice Ministry (in Portuguese). 9 October 2005. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. "Luís Montenegro eleito líder da bancada do PSD com 86 por cento dos votos" [Luís Montenegro elected parliamentary leader of the PSD with 86 per cent of the votes]. Público (in Portuguese). 30 June 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  6. Lourenço, Eunice (17 February 2018). "Luís Montenegro sai do Parlamento e deixa avisos a Rio" [Luís Montenegro leaves Parliament and leaves advice to Rio] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  7. ""Ninguém tem coragem para o dizer, mas eu digo-o": Rui Rio considera que a Maçonaria tenta "condicionar muitas coisas" no país" ["Nobody has the courage to say it, but I'm saying it": Rui Rio considers that Freemasonry tries to "condition many things" in the country] (in Portuguese). SAPO. Lusa News Agency. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  8. "Rui Rio reafirma que existe uma "teia maçónica" dentro do PSD" [Rui Rio reaffirms that there exists a "Masonic network" inside the PSD] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  9. "Resultados finais: Rui Rio venceu segunda volta com 53,2% dos votos, mais 2.071 do que os conseguidos por Montenegro" [Final results: Rui Rio won second round with 53.2% of the votes, 2,071 more than Montenegro won]. Observador (in Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. "Luís Montenegro vai ser candidato à liderança do PSD" [Luís Montenegro will be candidate for leadership of the PSD]. Público (in Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  11. Rita, Cristina (29 May 2022). "Luís Montenegro é o novo líder do PSD e ganhou por 72,47%" [Luís Montenegro is the new leader of the PSD and won with 72.47%]. Novo Semanário (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  12. Sergio Goncalves and Andrei Khalip (5 December 2023), Portugal's Social Democratic Party contender for PM wants full privatisation of airline TAP Reuters.
  13. Esteves, Fernando (17 January 2019). "WHATSAPP-CHECK: Luís Montenegro pertenceu à poderosa loja maçónica Mozart?" [WHATSAPP-CHECK: Did Luís Montenegro belong to the powerful Mozart Masonic lodge?] (in Portuguese). Polígrafo. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  14. de Sousa, Luís; Batalha, João Paulo; Coroado, Susana (18 December 2020). "Mozart e os desafinados" [Mozart and the conflicting]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  15. "Luís Montenegro na lista dos jantares da Loja Mozart" [Luís Montenegro on the Mozart Lodge's dinner list]. Expresso (in Portuguese). 5 January 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  16. Simões, Bruno (6 January 2012). "Nove em cada dez deputados são liderados por maçons" [Nine out of ten deputies are led by Freemasons]. Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  17. "Líder parlamentar do CDS também é maçom" [Parliamentary leader of the CDS is also a Freemason]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 6 January 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  18. Monteiro, Sara Beatriz (15 January 2019). ""Não sou maçon nem tenho nenhuma ligação à maçonaria"" ["I am not a Freemason nor do I have any link to Freemasonry"] (in Portuguese). TSF. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
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