Ventura, a former sports journalist and academic, founded Chega!—a party whose very name (“Enough!”) serves as a programmatic manifesto. It emerged as a reaction to the crisis of traditional parties, capturing increasing support.
From 1.6% in the 2019 legislative elections—which saw Ventura elected in Lisbon and marked the return of identitarian right-wing politics to the Portuguese parliament—to 11.9% in the 2020 presidential elections, which in hindsight proved to be a decisive testing ground for establishing the party as a solid force and contributing to its full institutionalization.
After the 2024 European elections, Ventura joined the supranational group Patriots for Europe, confirming a stance committed to defending the project of a “Europe of nations.”
The 18.06% obtained in the 2024 legislative elections and the 23.74% in the 2025 elections (easily surpassing the one-million-vote threshold) established Chega! as a credible political force, launching the challenge for the next presidential elections in 2026, with Ventura riding high in the polls.
The party’s platform is driven by themes often at the center of political debate: creating economic well-being and fighting waste and inflation; ensuring security and combating irregular immigration; supporting the traditional family model and Portuguese spirituality; backing the Euro-Atlantic alliance; and encouraging the active involvement of young people in the party’s internal decision-making and in institutions more broadly.
Many of Chega!’s elected representatives are under 35 and have helped bring Ventura thousands of votes once destined for the Social Democratic Party.
Ventura has also made the fight against scandals and corruption within the very party considered the archetypal governing party into a symbolic banner, which has motivated disillusioned abstainers and former socialists to return to the polls.
On the cultural front, the party’s metapolitical activities have expanded across major cities, from Lisbon to Braga, where the Conservative Politics Institute led by Camilo Pinheiro brought together European partners for a conference titled “Crown and Cross,” aimed at fostering debate on monarchical legacies in European culture and Portuguese spirituality.
This reflects Chega!’s pursuit of intellectual support within civil society, as well as among European think tanks and cultural movements.
Representing Portugal at the event were Chega! politicians Lina Pinheiro, Rui Cardoso, and Filipe Melo, along with academics Jaime Noguera Pinto and António de Sousa Lara, who delivered high-level lectures.
As the presidential elections approach, Chega! continues to rise in the polls.
Ventura’s political project may therefore definitively shift the ideological balance of Portugal’s deeply rooted socialist tradition.
After all, millions have already said “Chega!”, “Enough!”