Luis Montenegro, whose center-right party won Portugal's general election on Sunday according to exit polls, is a seasoned parliamentarian with no government experience who is perceived as honest and competent despite a lack of flair.
Having become leader of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), the main opposition group, just months after the Socialists won a surprise absolute majority in the last election in January 2022, the 51-year-old lawyer seemed destined to play secondary role in Portuguese politics.
But the surprise resignation of Antonio Costa as prime minister last November in the wake of an influence-peddling scandal thrust the lifelong politician into the forefront.