Ana Catarina Mendes

Ana Catarina Veiga dos Santos Mendonça Mendes (born 14 January 1973) is a Portuguese politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic since 1995 and, from 2019, led the party in Parliament. In March 2022, she was appointed Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the XXIII Constitutional Government, a position she held until after the March 2024 national election.

Ana Catarina Mendes was elected a Member of the European Parliament in the 2024 European election, and sworn-in in the Tenth European Parliament.

Early life Ana Catarina Veiga Santos Mendonça Mendes was born in Coimbra on 14 January 1973. She obtained an undergraduate law degree from the University of Lisbon and a master's degree in New Frontiers of Law from the ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. Mendes led the Almada and the Setúbal District Federation of Socialist Youth (Juventude Socialista), the youth wing of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS).

She was President of the Setúbal District Federation of the Socialist Party from 2014 to 2015, when she was appointed Deputy Secretary-General.

She married Paulo Pedroso but they are now divorced.

Political career Mendes served as a councillor in the Almada municipality from 1993 to 1997 and was elected to the national Assembly of the Republic in 1995 as a representative of the PS for Setúbal, a position she occupied until july, 15h of 2024.

She was President of the Setúbal District Federation of the Socialist Party from 2014 to 2015, when she was appointed Deputy Secretary-General. Following the 2022 Portuguese legislative election, Mendes was appointed as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.

Broadcasting Since early 2018 Mendes has been a regular political commentator on Portuguese television, beginning with Televisão Independente (TVI) and the radio station TSF, then moving to a weekly programme on the SIC Notícias television channel, before moving back to TVI. She was replaced by Alexandra Leitão in March 2022, after taking office as Deputy Minister and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

Member of the European Parliament On 16 July 2024, she was sworn in as a member of European Parliament, and is a member of Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), as a substitute in Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET).