2007 Madeiran regional election

2007 Madeiran regional election

6 May 2007
47 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira 24 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	60.7% 0.3 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Alberto João Jardim Jacinto Serrão de Freitas Edgar Silva Party PSD PS CDU Last election 44 seats, 53.7% 19 seats, 27.4% 2 seats, 5.5% Seats won 33 7 2 Seat change 11 12 0 Popular vote 90,377 21,692 7,650 Percentage 64.2% 15.4% 5.4% Swing 10.5 pp 12.0 pp 0.1 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader José Manuel Rodrigues Paulo Martins João Gonçalves Party CDS–PP BE MPT Last election 2 seats, 7.0% 1 seat, 3.7% Did not contest Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 0 0 1 Popular vote 7,519 4,186 3,175 Percentage 5.3% 3.0% 2.3% Swing 1.7 pp 0.7 pp New party   Seventh party   Leader Baltasar de Aguiar Party PND Last election Did not contest Seats won 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 2,931 Percentage 2.1% Swing New party
The most voted party in each municipality.
President before election Alberto João Jardim PSD Elected President Alberto João Jardim PSD

A regional election was held in Madeira on 6 May 2007, to determine the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira. The election was a snap election, as it was original schedule to only happen in October 2008. The election was called after the President of the Regional Government, Alberto João Jardim, resigned after his government clashed with the Socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates due to the new regional finance law approved by the Sócrates government. Jardim defended that the new law was harmful for Madeira's interests. By this time, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) had been in power, nonstop, since 1976.

The election was a huge landslide for the PSD and Alberto João Jardim. He won one of the biggest landslides in Madeira electoral history, winning more than 64 percent of the votes and 70 percent of the members of the regional parliament. The PSD won, once again, in all 11 municipalities of the region. The Socialists suffered a huge setback in these elections winning just 15 percent of the votes and 7 seats, although the number of total members was reduced to 47 due to a new electoral system.

The smaller parties, CDS, CDU and BE, also saw their shares decrease and CDU, led by the Portuguese Communist Party, was able to pull ahead of the People's Party (CDS-PP). The Left Bloc (BE) had, like CDU, minor losses and was able to hold on to their sole seat. But other smaller parties gained representation for the first time. The Earth Party (MPT) and the New Democracy Party (PND) gained, both, one seat and polled above 2 percent.

Turnout in these elections increased very slightly compared with 3 years ago, with 60.8 percent of voters casting a ballot.

Electoral system

Before this election, members of the regional parliament were elected in 11 constituencies, representing the 11 municipalities of Madeira, that were awarded a determined number of member to elect according with the number of registered voters in those constituencies. The method used to elect the members was the D'Hondt method. For the 2007 elections, the system changed and members of the regional parliament would now be elected by a single constituency, coinciding with the territory of the Region. The method used, to elect members, would continue to be the D'Hondt method. The total number of members was also reduced from the 68, in the 2004 elections, to 47 in the 2007 elections.

Parties

The parties that partook in the election, and their leaders, were:

• Left Bloc (BE), Paulo Martinho Martins
• Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), Edgar Silva
• Earth Party (MPT), João Gonçalves
• New Democracy Party (PND), Baltasar de Carvalho Machado Gonçalves de Aguiar
• Socialist Party (PS), Jacinto Serrão de Freitas
• Social Democratic Party (PSD), Alberto João Jardim
• People's Party (CDS–PP), José Manuel Rodrigues

Opinion polling

Date Released	Polling Firm	PSD	PS	CDS-PP	CDU	BE	Others	Lead
6 May 2007	Universidade Católica	64.5	15.5	6.0	5.0	3.0	—	49.0
6 May 2007	Eurosondagem	69.0	13.0	5.5	4.1	2.2	—	56.0
Exit polls
2 May 2007	Intercampus	61.5	19.5	5.0	6.2	5.0	2.6	42.0
29 April 2007	Universidade Católica	66.0	16.0	5.0	4.0	3.0	6.0	50.0
27 April 2007	Eurosondagem	58.0	24.5	4.7	5.3	3.6	3.9	33.5
24 April 2007	Eurosondagem	59.3	23.8	4.8	5.2	3.3	3.6	35.5
23 February 2007	Eurosondagem	59.1	25.0	5.9	4.8	3.4	1.8	34.1
17 October 2004	Election results	53.7 44 seats	27.4 19 seats	7.0 2 seats	5.5 2 seats	3.7 1 seats	2.7	26.3

Summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 6 May 2007 Legislative Assembly of Madeira elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	MPs					MPs %/ votes %
					2004	2007	±	%	±
	Social Democratic	90,377	64.24	10.5	44	33	11	70.21	5.5	1.09
	Socialist	21,692	15.42	12.0	19	7	12	14.89	13.0	0.97
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	7,650	5.44	0.1	2	2	0	4.26	1.3	0.78
	People's	7,519	5.34	1.7	2	2	0	4.26	1.3	0.80
	Left Bloc	4,186	2.98	0.7	1	1	0	2.13	0.7	0.71
	Earth	3,175	2.26	—	—	1	—	2.13	—	0.94
	New Democracy	2,931	2.08	—	—	1	—	2.13	—	1.02
Total valid		137,530	97.75	0.4	68	47	21	100.00	0.0	—
Blank ballots		1,148	0.82	0.2
Invalid ballots		2,019	1.43	0.2
Total		140,697	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		231,606	60.75	0.3
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Vote share PSD   64.24% PS   15.42% CDU   5.44% CDS-PP   5.34% BE   2.98% MPT   2.26% PND   2.08% Blank/Invalid   2.25%

Parliamentary seats PSD   70.21% PS   14.89% CDU   4.26% CDS-PP   4.26% BE   2.13% MPT   2.13% PND   2.13%

Maps

• 
  Most voted political force by municipality.

See also

• Madeira

External links

• Official results page for the 2007 Madeira election
• Election results
• Comissão Nacional de Eleições