2004 European Parliament election in Portugal

2004 European Parliament election in Portugal

← 1999 13 June 2004 2009 →
24 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout	38.6% 1.3 pp
First party Second party   Leader António Costa João de Deus Pinheiro Party PS FP Alliance PES EPP Last election 12 seats, 43.1% 11 seats, 39.3% Seats won 12 9 Seat change 0 2 Popular vote 1,516,001 1,132,769 Percentage 44.5% 33.3% Swing 1.5 pp 6.0 pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Ilda Figueiredo Miguel Portas Party CDU BE Alliance GUE/NGL EACL Last election 2 seats, 10.3% 0 seats, 1.8% Seats won 2 1 Seat change 0 1 Popular vote 309,401 167,313 Percentage 9.1% 4.9% Swing 1.2 pp 3.1 pp

An election of MEPs representing Portugal for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament was held on 13 June 2004. It was part of the wider 2004 European election.

The Socialist Party (PS) was the big winner of the elections, achieving their best result in a European election ever. The party won 44.5 percent of the votes, an increase of 1.5 percentage points, and held on to the 12 seats won in 1999. However the Socialist victory, and the campaign overall, was overshadowed by the sudden death of the PS top candidate, António Sousa Franco. Sousa Franco died of a heart attack while campaigning in Matosinhos, just four days before election day. António Costa, number 2 on the list, became the Socialists' top candidate after Sousa Franco's death.

The Social Democrats (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP) contested the election in a coalition called "Forward Portugal" (FP). The coalition had a very weak performance, winning just 33 percent of the votes, a big drop compared with the combined total of 39 percent the PSD+CDS had in 1999. The PSD lost two seats, while CDS–PP held on to their two seats.

The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) dropped one point and fell below 10 percent of the votes for the first time. CDU was still able to hold on to the two seats they had won in 1999. The Left Bloc (BE) gained a seat for the EU parliament for the first time, and saw its share of vote increase to almost 5 percent, an increase of more than 3 percentage points compared with 1999.

Turnout dropped compared with 1999, with 38.6 percent of voters casting a ballot.