António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician serving as the 119th and current prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and XXIII Constitutional Governments (2022–present). Previously, he was the secretary of state for parliamentary affairs from 1995 to 1997, minister of parliamentary affairs from 1997 to 1999, minister of justice from 1999 to 2002, minister of internal administration from 2005 to 2007, and mayor of Lisbon from 2007 to 2015. He was elected as secretary general of the Socialist Party in September 2014. Early life and education Costa was born in 1961 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, the son of writer Orlando da Costa and journalist Maria Antónia Palla. Orlando da Costa was half Portuguese and half Goan Portuguese; his father was born in Maputo, Mozambique, to a Goan family. In Goa, Costa is affectionately known as Babush, a word in Konkani meaning a young loved one. Costa graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon in the 1980s, when he first entered politics and was elected as a Socialist deputy to the municipal council. He completed the mandatory military service in 1987 and later practiced law briefly from 1988, before entering politics full-time. Political career Costa's first role in a Socialist government was as minister of parliamentary affairs under Prime Minister António Guterres between 1997 and 1999. He was Minister of Justice from 1999 to 2002. Costa was a member of the European Parliament for the Socialist Party (PES), heading the list for the 2004 European elections after the dramatic death of top candidate António de Sousa Franco. On 20 July 2004 he was elected as one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament. He also served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Costa resigned as an MEP on 11 March 2005 to become Minister of State and Internal Administration in the government of José Sócrates following the 2005 national elections. Mayor of Lisbon António Costa resigned all government offices in May 2007 to become his party's candidate for the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal's capital city. He was elected as Lisbon's mayor on 15 July 2007 and reelected in 2009 and 2013, with a bigger majority each time. In April 2015 he resigned his duties as a mayor, while he was already