[21] It has had full party status since its founding, yet the constituent groups have maintained their existence as individual political associations, retaining some levels of autonomy in a loose structure.

In the subsequent 2011 snap election, the country saw a massive shift to the right, with the Left Bloc losing nearly half of its previous popular support, obtaining only 5.17% of the vote and 8 members of parliament.

This defeat is generally attributed to the partial support certain sections of the party appeared to offer the unpopular Socialist government while the latter pursued an austerity program in response to the financial crisis.

Francisco Louçã is one of the founders who most insisted on restricting theory to the basic humanistic and ethical principles common to partisans and supporters in order to conquer a wider range of constituencies.

After thirteen years of intensive labor as a leader, Louçã quit the position of party chairman in 2012 arguing that "it is time for renewal" and delegating his functions to a man and a woman.

Left-wing intellectuals who had come together to the Manifesto 3D collective challenged the Left Bloc to converge with LIVRE towards a joined list in the upcoming 2014 European election.

[24] So while the severe austerity programs under prime minister Passos Coelho did backdrop on the Portuguese political right, the European election in May saw the Socialists and liberal Earth Party as relative winners, whereas the Left Bloc lost more than half of 2009's votes and two of its three mandates.

[30] Following that poor result, and in light of Luís Montenegro's victory, Mariana Mortágua led negotiations with the remaining parties on the left (PS, PCP, LIVRE and PAN) in order to build an alternative to the incoming right-wing government.

[33] At present, together with the PS, Left Bloc aims at "building a stable, long-lasting and reliable majority at the Parliament, in order to support the formation and subsequent action of a government committed to the change demanded through the ballot box".

[39] The party attempted to pass legislation in Parliament regarding cannabis law reform in Portugal in 2013 and 2015, both of which were rejected by the then ruling centre-right coalition government.

[40] In terms of economics the party advocates "greater state intervention in the economy in order to reduce inequalities", such as rises to the minimum wage.