Visit by the President of the Portuguese Parliament – José Pedro Aguiar-Branco and delegation

His Excellency José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, visited Parliament with a delegation on 4-5 November 2025, hosted by his British counterpart, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP.

The President was accompanied at the meetings by the Ambassador for Portugal to the UK, HE Nuno Brito, and his delegation consisted of Ms Elza Pais, the Vice-President of Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities Commission, Mr Ricardo Carvalho MP, the Vice-President of Parliamentary European Affairs Commission,  and Mr Pedro Pessanha MP. the President of Parliamentary National Defence Commission. In attendance were the Deputy HE Matilde Baretto and other members of the President’s team and the Embassy.   

As Chair of the APPG on Portugal, I held a meeting with other members of the APPG, Dame Gloria Hooper, Sir Julian Lewis MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP. There was a wide range of issues discussed including trade and post Brexit arrangements. The president said it was important for our young people to be able to exchange visits as they used to with the Erasmus scheme. I raised the suggestion of hosting interns from Portugal to come to the UK and the UK to go to Portugal through the APPG. We agreed to work on this when their equivalent of APPGs, the friendship group was established.    

The delegation also had the opportunity to speak with the Chair of the Defence Select Committee, Tan Dhesi MP.   

Portugal is one of our oldest allies. There are over 400,000 Portuguese citizens living in the UK and approximately 50,000 UK citizens living in Portugal. This visit resets the relationship enabling us to discuss important issues such as defence. Portugal and the UK are members of NATO. 

The APPG hopes to visit the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal soon.