Bernardo Blanco

Bernardo Blanco
Blanco in 2022
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 March 2022
ConstituencyLisbon
Personal details
Born
Bernardo Alves Martinho Amaral Blanco

(1995-11-19) 19 November 1995 (age 29)
Torres Vedras, Portugal
Political partyLiberal Initiative
Alma materCatholic University of Portugal

Bernardo Alves Martinho Amaral Blanco (19 November 1995),[1] is a Portuguese politician. He is currently a Member of the Portuguese Parliament and Vice-President of the Liberal Initiative.

Biography

Blanco was born in Torres Vedras in 1995. He holds a degree in management from Catholic University of Portugal, where he also took a Master's in political science. He has worked in the private sector, first at OLX as product manager, then as a member of the strategy team at Liberty Seguros[2] and later at Deloitte.[3]

Political life

He joined the Liberal Initiative (IL) and was head candidate for the District of Leiria in the 2019 legislative election. In the following Portuguese legislative elections of 2022, he rejoined the lists, this time for Lisbon, and was elected MP to the Portuguese Parliament.[4]

Since his election to Parliament in 2022, Bernardo has served as Vice-President of the European Affairs Committee and as coordinator in the Committee of Environment and Energy. He also serves as Vice-President of Liberal Initiative's parliamentary group and as coordinator in the Budget and Finance Committee.[5]

Blanco has garnered particular notoriety through his participation in the parliamentary hearings related to the nationalization process of the country's national airline, TAP Air Portugal, by exposing secret meetings between ruling party members and the company and several other cases of poor management and public expenditure. Some newspapers have used the term "star-MP" to refer to Bernardo for his performance in this role. [6][7][8]

In September 2024 he announced his candidacy for the position of Vice-President of ALDE at the upcoming Congress in Estoril, stating his motivation to "reconnect with young people" and "lead them away from extremism towards liberalism".[9]

In his early years, he was vice-president of the Mises Portugal Institute and local coordinator of Students for Liberty. He is also author of the blog "O Insurgente",[10] with his fellow IL MPs Carlos Guimarães Pinto and Rui Rocha.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ "Biografia". www.parlamento.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  2. ^ "Estas são as sete novas caras da Iniciativa Liberal no Parlamento". CNN Portugal (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  3. ^ Bernardo, Bernardo (11 April 2023). "Bernardo Blanco". pt.linkedin.com. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  4. ^ Lúcia, Marília (2021-03-23). "Entrevista a Bernardo Blanco , ESCS Magazine". ESCS Magazine (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  5. ^ "Biografia". Parlamento (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  6. ^ Marques, Ângela (2024-05-08). "Das artes à política: os jovens mais influentes do País". Sábado (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  7. ^ Malhado, Alexandre (2023-04-14). "TAP: Bernardo Blanco, o miúdo-estrela da comissão e a máquina IL". Sábado (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  8. ^ Figueiredo, Inês (2023-04-16). "Bernardo Blanco, um "fenómeno Mortágua" que deixa a IL a suspirar por um "líder de futuro"". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  9. ^ Figueiredo, Inês (2024-09-13). "Bernardo Blanco é candidato a vice-presidente do ALDE". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  10. ^ "Bernardo Blanco". O Insurgente (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  11. ^ "Iniciativa Liberal. "Popularizar" será a chave para saída de Cotrim e avanço de Rui Rocha". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  12. ^ Bernardo Blanco | A Minha Geração com Diana Duarte | Antena 3, retrieved 2023-04-09