Government to approve labour law reform on Thursday
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced that the Council of Ministers will approve a proposal to revise labour legislation this Thursday before submitting it to Parliament. Montenegro criticized the General Union of Workers (União Geral de Trabalhadores or UGT) for being intransigent during negotiations, while confirming a meeting with Chega leader André Ventura to discuss the bill and nationality law.
Update: Socialist leader to discuss labour reform with Prime Minister
Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) Secretary-General José Luís Carneiro confirmed he will meet with Montenegro this Thursday to discuss the labour reform proposal. Carneiro warned that the meeting does not imply PS support for what he described as a government counter-reform, while the party leadership denied reports that it had expressed willingness to negotiate the legislation.
- Prime Minister, Portugal: 2024 - Present
- Party: Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born February 16, 1973, in Porto) is a Portuguese lawyer and center‑right politician who has served as Prime Minister of Portugal since April 2, 2024. A long‑time member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), he is the leading figure of the post‑Troika generation of Portuguese conservatives. Montenegro was elected to the Assembly of the Republic in 2002 for the Aveiro district and remained an MP for 16 years, becoming PSD parliamentary leader from 2011 to 2017 during the bailout and austerity period under Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. He was a prominent defender of strict austerity measures, arguing in 2014 that “the life of the people is no better, but the life of the country is a lot better,” a phrase that has followed his public image since. After an unsuccessful leadership bid against Rui Rio in 2020, Montenegro won the PSD leadership in 2022. He then forged the centre‑right Democratic Alliance (PSD–CDS‑PP and allies), which won a plurality of seats in the 2024 legislative election. Refusing to partner with the far‑right Chega, which he has called “often xenophobic, racist, populist and excessively demagogic,” he formed a minority government as head of the XXIV Constitutional Government on April 2, 2024. His first government fell in March 2025 after a no‑confidence vote linked to a conflict‑of‑interest affair, but fresh elections saw the Democratic Alliance increase its seat share, allowing Montenegro to return as prime minister leading the XXV Constitutional Government. His importance to Portugal lies in attempting to re‑center the traditional centre‑right after the crisis years, defending liberal‑conservative economics and EU alignment while drawing a sharp line against formal cooperation with the radical right, thus shaping how Portuguese democracy manages its new multi‑party era.
André Ventura, born January 15, 1983, is a lawyer, academic, and Portugal's most prominent far-right leader. He founded Chega ("Enough") in 2019 after his PSD mayoral campaign attacked the Romani community. Chega surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest party and making Ventura Leader of the Opposition.
His platform emphasizes immigration restrictions, law-and-order policies, constitutional reform, and contains inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric that has triggered multiple discrimination convictions and investigations. Politically classified as far-right by international media, Ventura cultivates alliances with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal.
José Luís Carneiro is a Portuguese politician and member of the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS). He served as the Minister of Internal Administration (Ministro da Administração Interna) from 2022 to 2024 and currently holds a seat in the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República).
