Portugal¶
The Portuguese cases show the far right advancing through elections rather than through institutions. A state long insulated has few instruments built for purging, so there is little lying around to co-opt, and the far right’s gains so far are votes and seats rather than offices of state. The pressure now falls on the centre, which has to answer voters it is losing without borrowing the language that won them.
The clerk’s briefs¶
From the clerks, for the Patrician’s eyes
Not yet. The groups far-right campaigns commonly target face no new instrument yet, but a centre that borrowed the language would carry it into the state. Emigrants have learned that their votes can decide the order of parliament. The far right gains legitimacy with each result, and the next government’s choices will show whether that becomes power. Reopen when the centre chooses.
February 2026: The runoff¶
On 8 February 2026 the Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro won Portugal’s presidential runoff with 66.8 per cent against Andre Ventura of Chega, who received 33.2 per cent, more than 1.7 million votes. Chega has the second-largest number of seats in parliament. “We did not win, but are on the path to this victory,” Ventura told his supporters. The clerks note that the loser’s share was the news.
May 2025: Second by two seats¶
In the May 2025 election Chega and the Socialists finished tied on 58 seats; the votes from abroad then gave Chega two more, 60 against the Socialists’ 58, and made it the second force in parliament. The clerks note that the far right’s second place was settled by votes cast abroad.