António Costa in the context of "Prime Minister of Portugal"

The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the heads of state or of government of the EU member states, the president of the European Council, and the president of the European Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings.

Established as an informal summit in 1975, the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the commencement of the Treaty of Lisbon. Its current president is António Costa, former prime minister of Portugal.

This is a list of mayors of Lisbon (Portuguese: Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, CML, literally: "President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon", and also Portuguese: Presidente do Município de Lisboa, literally: "President of the Municipality of Lisbon"), the capital city of Portugal, and also the most populated.

This office is considered one of the most important in Portugal's politics, even more sought than the office of minister (following António Costa's resignation from a ministerial position to contest the 2007 elections, which he won). Of the nine elected mayors since 1976, two became Prime Minister of Portugal - Pedro Santana Lopes in 2004 and António Costa in 2015; One became President of the Republic - Jorge Sampaio in 1996.

There is no official title of President of the European Union (or President of Europe), but there are a number of presidents of European Union institutions, including:

• the President of the European Council (since 1 December 2024, António Costa)
• the President of the European Commission (since 1 December 2019, Ursula von der Leyen)
• the President of the European Parliament (since 11 January 2022, Roberta Metsola)

Alongside these the Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers or simply "the Council") containing 27 national ministers, one of each nation, rotates its presidency by country. This presidency is held by a country, not a person; meetings are chaired by the minister from the country holding the presidency (depending on the topic, or "configuration"), except for the Foreign Affairs Council (one so-called "configuration" of the Council of the EU), which is usually chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Presidency of the Council of the European Union has been held by Denmark since 1 July 2025.

The Socialist Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista [pɐɾˈtiðu susiɐˈliʃtɐ], PS) is a social democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel by militants who were at the time with the Portuguese Socialist Action (Portuguese: Acção Socialista Portuguesa). The PS is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists, and has eight members in the European Parliament within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group during the 10th European Parliament.

The party won the 1976 general election and formed the first constitutional government after the 1974 revolution, with Mário Soares as prime minister. However, the government was unstable and fell in 1978. The PS lost the 1979 election, but returned to power in 1983, forming, with the Social Democratic Party, a Central Bloc coalition. It lasted two years and in 1985, the party was defeated and went back to opposition, remaining there for 10 years and losing the two following general elections. Under António Guterres, the party won the 1995 general election and returned to power, lasting until 2002, upon the resignation of Guterres. The party made a comeback and won a historic absolute majority in the 2005 general election under the leadership of José Sócrates. By 2011, the economic crisis led the party to lose the 2011 snap election and the party returned to the opposition. Despite losing the 2015 election, the party formed an agreement with the Left Bloc and the Unitary Democratic Coalition and managed to appoint António Costa as Prime Minister. Costa remained in office for 9 years, until 2024, and during his term won two elections, the last one, in 2022, with an absolute majority. After Costa's resignation, the party narrowly lost the 2024 election, thus, returning to opposition. The party again lost the 2025 election by a larger margin and even fell to third place in Parliament for first time since it's revolution in 1974.

The 2025 Portuguese Socialist Party leadership election was held on 27 and 28 June 2025 to elect a new Secretary General of the party following the defeat in the 2025 Portuguese legislative election. The election was called by Pedro Nuno Santos after achieving a disappointing third place and losing the status of leader of the opposition with him resigning and not seeking reelection.

After the Party President and acting Secretary General Carlos César declaring that the election will be held either in the last week of June or the first of July, Mariana Vieira da Silva and Fernando Medina, both highly speculated names of the Costista wing of the party to run for Secretary General, as well as Duarte Cordeiro and Alexandra Leitão, two of the closest alies of Pedro Nuno Santos and members of the left-wing faction of the party, declined to run in name of party unity and because of the short time necessary to prepare a candidacy. Because of this José Luís Carneiro, a high-profile member of the Segurista faction and Centrist wing of the party, and runner-up of the previous internal election, was expected to be the sole candidate.