National Union (Portugal)
Election Party leader Votes % Seats won Position Government
1934 António Salazar 476,706 100% 100 / 100 1st Sole legal party
1938 António Salazar 694,290 100% 100 / 100 1st Sole legal party
1942 António Salazar 758,215 100% 100 / 100 1st Sole legal party
1945 António Salazar 489,133 100% 120 / 120 1st Supermajority gov't
1949 António Salazar 927,264 100% 120 / 120 1st Supermajority gov't
1953 António Salazar 845,281 100% 120 / 120 1st Supermajority gov't
1957 António Salazar 911,618 100% 120 / 120 1st Supermajority gov't
1961 António Salazar 973,997 100% 130 / 130 1st Supermajority gov't
1965 António Salazar 998,542 100% 130 / 130 1st Supermajority gov't
1969 Marcelo Caetano 981,263 87.99% 130 / 130 1st Supermajority gov't
1973 Marcelo Caetano 1,393,294 100% 150 / 150 1st Supermajority gov't
Electoral history -- National Assembly elections
The National Union () was the sole legal party of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal, founded in July 1930 and dominated by António de Oliveira Salazar during most of its existence. Unlike in most single-party regimes, the National Union was more of a political arm of the government, rather than holding actual power over it. The National Union membership was mostly drawn from local notables: landowners, professionals and business men most of them catholics, monarchists or conservative republicans. The National Union was never a militant nor a very active organization. Once Salazar assumed premiership the National Union became the only partner legally allowed to function under the Estado Novo. Scholarly opinion varies on whether the Estado Novo and the National Union should be considered fascist or not. Salazar himself criticized the exaltation of youth, the cult of force through direct action, the principle of the superiority of state political power in social life, [and] the propensity for organising masses behind a single leader as fundamental differences between fascism and the Catholic corporatism of the Estado Novo. Scholars such as Stanley G. Payne, Thomas Gerard Gallagher, Juan José Linz, António Costa Pinto, Roger Griffin, Robert Paxton and Howard J. Wiarda, prefer to consider the Portuguese Estado Novo (Portugal) as conservative authoritarian rather than fascist. On the other hand Portuguese scholars like Fernando Rosas, Manuel Villaverde Cabral, Manuel de Lucena and Manuel Loff think that the Estado Novo should be considered fascist.