The surprise guest

Our surprise guest is Ana Gomes, Portuguese diplomat and politician, member of the Portuguese Socialist Party. She writes about the danger of populism, the rise of far-right parties and the need to fight this.

A career diplomat since 1980, Ana Gomes has held numerous positions, including at the United Nations in Geneva and New York. In 1999 she was Head of the Portuguese Interests Section and then, until 2003, Ambassador in Jakarta, where she played a role in the process leading up to the independence of Timor-Leste and in the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Portugal and Indonesia. 

A Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019, she was particularly active in the European Parliament on foreign relations, human rights, security and defence, international development, gender equality and the fight against tax evasion, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

In 2021, on behalf of the Socialists, she ran in the presidential election against the outgoing president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. She managed to come second, ahead of the candidate from the extreme-right party, Chega.

Today she continues her political activism as a campaigner for human rights, integrity and transparency in public life, against corruption and organised crime. She has a weekly commentary programme on the Portuguese TV channel SIC Notícias (The opinion of Ana Gomes).