SOCIALIST candidate Antonio Jose Seguro recorded a thumping victory over far-right Andre Ventura in Portugal’s run-off presidential election on Sunday, according to official results.

Mr Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with a landslide 66.7 per cent of votes, compared with 33.3 per cent for Mr Ventura.

During the campaign Mr Seguro slammed Mr Ventura’s anti-Establishment and racist anti-immigration tirades.

Mr Ventura’s campaign included billboards saying “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare.”

Mr Seguro won the backing of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to halt the rising populist tide.

In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead with no executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions.

However, the president is an influential voice and possesses some powerful tools, being able to veto legislation from parliament, although the veto can be overturned.

The head of state also possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is called an “atomic bomb,” the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

Mr Seguro will take over next month, replacing right-wing President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.