Rui Fernando da Silva Rio, GCIH (born 1957 in Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

) is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and Mayor of Porto (Presidente da Câmara Municipal).

Rio studied at the Colégio Alemão do Porto (Porto's German School), and earned his degree in economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 at the University of Porto

University of Porto

The University of Porto is a Portuguese public university located in Porto, and founded 22 March 1911. It is the largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students and has one of the most noted research outputs in Portugal...

. There, he was president of the Student Association, and a member of the Pedagogical Council.

Political career

Rio began his political career as part of the Juventude Social-Democrata (JSD), the Social Democrats' youth organization. He was Vice President of its National Political Commission from 1982 to 1984. At the same time he was a member of the National Political Commission of the Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...

, under Pinto Balsemão and later Mota Pinto. He was also deputy to the Assembly of the Republic

Assembly of the Republic

The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...

, elected for the district of Porto

Porto District

The District of Porto , sometimes Oporto in English, is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country...

, between 1991 and 2001. He was, during this period, the party's spokesman on economic and financial questions. He was also Secretary General of the party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 during the presidency of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Between 1996 and 1998 he was Vice President of the Instituto Sá Carneiro and, between 2002 and 2005, Vice President of the Social Democratic Party. From 2003 to 2005 he was President of the Eixo Atlântico do Noroeste Peninsular.

In 2001 he was elected president of the Municipal chamber of Porto, defeating Fernando Gomes in an upset. He had a troubled first term, marked by splits with the world of the football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 business in the city of Porto, and strong interventions in the social districts. He was re-elected by an absolute majority in 2005 and 2009.