Catarina Martins

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Soares and the second or paternal family name is Martins.
Catarina Martins
Official portrait, 2024
National Coordinator of the Left Bloc
In office
11 November 2012 – 28 May 2023
Serving with João Semedo
until 30 November 2014
Preceded byFrancisco Louçã
Succeeded byMariana Mortágua
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 July 2024
ConstituencyPortugal
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
In office
15 October 2009 – 14 September 2023
Succeeded byIsabel Pires
ConstituencyPorto
Personal details
Born
Catarina Soares Martins

(1973-09-07) 7 September 1973 (age 51)
Porto, Portugal
Political partyLeft Bloc
Children2
OccupationActress • Politician

Catarina Soares Martins (born 7 September 1973) is a Portuguese politician and actress.[1] She was the national coordinator of the Left Bloc from 11 November 2012 until 28 May 2023, and has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic for the Left Bloc since 2009. She trained as a linguist and is active in theater.

Martins was elected a Member of the European Parliament in the 2024 European election, and is expected to be sworn-in in the upcoming Tenth European Parliament.[2]

Early life and career

Catarina Martins was born in Porto on 7 September 1973. She did three years of her primary school education in São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape Verde, and returned to Portugal when she was 9 years-old. She enrolled in the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra but abandoned her course on the third year. Afterwards she obtained a bachelor's degree in Languages and Literature and a master's degree in Linguistics. She also enrolled in a PhD in Language Teaching.[1][3]

In 1994, she co-founded the theater company Companhia de Teatro de Visões Úteis in Porto.

Political career

Martins was elected to the Portuguese parliament as the first Left Bloc representative from Porto in the 2009 Portuguese legislative election. On 11 November 2012, Catarina Martins and João Semedo were elected co-coordinators of the Left Bloc, successors to Francisco Louçã. Semedo quit on 30 November 2014 and Martins has been since the sole party coordinator. She was re-elected in the 2015 and 2019 elections. After the 2015 election the Left Bloc and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) agreed to support the government formed by António Costa of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS). On 27 October 2021, the budget proposed by Costa was rejected by the BE and the PCP, leading to early elections. In the January 2022 Portuguese legislative election the BE lost 14 of its 19 seats in the Assembly, although Martins was re-elected in the Porto District constituency.[4][5] On 14 February 2023, Martins announced that she won't run for re-election as the National Coordinator of the Left Bloc on party's XIII National Convention in May.[6] On 28 May, Mariana Mortágua was elected Left Bloc new coordinator, thus ending Martins' 11-year tenure as party's leader.[7]

Personal life

Martins is married to Pedro Carreira, an actor trained in Physics, and has two daughters.[8]

Electoral history

BE leadership election, 2012

Ballot: 30 November 2012
Candidate Votes %
João Semedo
Catarina Martins 		359 76.5
João Madeira 110 23.5
Turnout 469
Source: Results[9]

BE leadership election, 2014

Ballot: 23 November 2014
Candidate Votes %
João Semedo
Catarina Martins 		266 50.8
Pedro Filipe Soares 258 49.2
Turnout 524
Source: Results[10]

Legislative election, 2015

Main article: 2015 Portuguese legislative election
Ballot: 4 October 2015
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PàF Pedro Passos Coelho 2,085,465 38.6 107 –25
PS António Costa 1,747,730 32.3 86 +12
BE Catarina Martins 550,945 10.2 19 +11
CDU Jerónimo de Sousa 445,901 8.3 17 +1
PAN André Silva 75,170 1.4 1 +1
PDR Marinho e Pinto 61,920 1.1 0 new
PCTP/MRPP Garcia Pereira 60,045 1.1 0 ±0
Other parties 178,937 3.3 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 201,979 3.7 – –
Turnout 5,408,092 55.84 230 ±0
Source: Diário da República[11]

Legislative election, 2019

Main article: 2019 Portuguese legislative election
Ballot: 6 October 2019
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS António Costa 1,903,687 36.3 108 +22
PSD Rui Rio 1,454,283 27.8 79 –10
BE Catarina Martins 498,549 9.5 19 ±0
CDU Jerónimo de Sousa 332,018 6.3 12 –5
CDS–PP Assunção Cristas 221,094 4.2 5 –13
PAN André Silva 173,931 3.3 4 +3
Chega André Ventura 67,502 1.3 1 new
IL Carlos Guimarães Pinto 67,443 1.3 1 new
Livre Collective leadership 56,940 1.1 1 +1
Other parties 207,162 4.0 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 254,875 4.9 – –
Turnout 5,237,484 48.60 230 ±0
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[12]

Legislative election, 2022

Main article: 2022 Portuguese legislative election
Ballot: 30 January 2022
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS António Costa 2,302,601 41.4 120 +12
PSD Rui Rio 1,618,381 29.1 77 –2
Chega André Ventura 399,659 7.2 12 +11
IL João Cotrim Figueiredo 273,687 4.9 8 +7
BE Catarina Martins 244,603 4.4 5 –14
CDU Jerónimo de Sousa 238,920 4.3 6 –6
CDS–PP Rodrigues dos Santos 89,181 1.6 0 –5
PAN Inês Sousa Real 88,152 1.6 1 –3
Livre Rui Tavares 71,232 1.3 1 ±0
Other parties 91,299 1.6 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 146,824 2.6 – –
Turnout 5,564,539 51.46 230 ±0
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[13]

European Parliament election, 2024

Main article: 2024 European Parliament election in Portugal
Ballot: 9 June 2024
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS Marta Temido 1,268,915 32.1 8 –1
AD Sebastião Bugalho 1,229,895 31.1 7 ±0
Chega António Tânger Corrêa 387,068 9.8 2 +2
IL João Cotrim de Figueiredo 358,811 9.1 2 +2
BE Catarina Martins 168,107 4.3 1 –1
CDU João Oliveira 162,630 4.1 1 –1
Livre Francisco Paupério 148,572 3.8 0 ±0
ADN Joana Amaral Dias 54,120 1.4 0 ±0
PAN Pedro Fidalgo Marques 48,006 1.2 0 –1
Other parties 48,647 1.2 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 77,208 2.0 – –
Turnout 3,951,979 36.63 21 ±0
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Biografia". www.parlamento.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  2. ^ Jerónimo, Mariana (9 June 2024). "Quem são os 21 eurodeputados que Portugal vai enviar para o Parlamento Europeu?" [Who are the 21 MEPs that Portugal is sending to the European Parliament?]. SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Catarina Martins | Bertrand Livreiros - livraria Online". www.bertrand.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Parlamento chumba Orçamento do Estado " Archived 27 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine, SIC Notícias, 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  5. ^ "De 19 para cinco. Foi assim que o BE saiu das legislativas". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  6. ^ Begonha, Ana Bacelar (14 February 2023). "Catarina Martins vai deixar liderança do Bloco de Esquerda". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  7. ^ Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de (28 May 2023). "Mariana Mortágua: De braço direito de Catarina Martins a líder do Bloco de Esquerda". Mariana Mortágua: De braço direito de Catarina Martins a líder do Bloco de Esquerda (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Visão | Era uma vez Catarina". Visão (in European Portuguese). 12 October 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Catarina Martins e João Semedo confirmados novos líderes". Diário de Notícias. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Convenção do Bloco de Esquerda termina com indefinição à volta da liderança". Diário de Notícias. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Diário da República - Resultados Oficias 2015". Diário da República. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Mapa Oficial Resultados Legislativas 2019" (PDF). CNE. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Mapa Oficial n.º 1/2022" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. 26 March 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Comissão Nacional de Eleições Mapa Oficial n.º 4/2024" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.