He was a member of the Democratic Republican Alliance.
It eventually ran 16; the Republican Alliance had 14, and there were 14 Independents.
In 1909 he was elected to the Senate where he supported the Democratic Republican Alliance.
He represented the Democratic Republican Alliance in the Chamber of Deputies from 1928 to 1931.
Critics say he is only a "pretty boy" figure head of the Nationalist Republican Alliance.
The result was a victory for the Nationalist Republican Alliance, which won 31 of the 60 seats.
But he played down signs of divisions within his governing party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance, which is known as Arena.
The problem, he said, was that the governing rightist party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance, had come to power before its time.
He represented the Democratic Republican Alliance in the Chamber of Deputies from 1936 to 1940.
He returned to mainland Portugal in 1934 to found the Republican Alliance.