José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa (born Vilar de Maçada, 6 September 1957) is a Portuguese politician, elected secretary-general of the Socialist Party
Sócrates is a civil engineer, with a post-graduated studies in the area of sanitary engineering. He is a member of the Socialist Party since 1981 and a member of parliament since 1987. In 1995, he entered government as secretary of state for Environment in the first government of António Guterres. Two years later, Sócrates became Minister for Youth and Sports and was one of the organizers of the EURO 2004 cup in Portugal. He become Minister for Environment in Guterres' second government in 1999. Following the elections of 2002 (won by Durão Barroso), Sócrates became a member of the opposition. After the resignation of Ferro Rodrigues as party leader in 2004, he won a bid for the post of secretary-general against Manuel Alegre and João Soares, winning the vote of nearly 80% of party members on 24 September 2004. He was recently implicated in a scandal related to his time as Minister in the Guterres administration. There are claims that he allowed construction of a major shopping mall in a reserved natural area in exchange for funding for his party. This would constitute a crime under Portuguese law. The case is being investigated, but the Portuguese police already denied the allegation that Sócrates is considered suspect.
He is divorced, and has two children.