Maria Manuela de Brito Arcanjo Marques da Costa was born on 12 April 1954.

[1][2] In October 1995 she was appointed by the prime minister, António Guterres, to be Secretary of State for the Budget.

She resigned from the post in 1998 after disagreements with the Minister of Finance, António de Sousa Franco.

She was then appointed Minister of Health by Guterres, a post she held for 22 months before again resigning, on the grounds that she lacked the resources to carry out her responsibilities.

These often result in significant criticisms, such as one made in 2013 when she said, ironically, that the Government was hoping that people would die before it had to pay their pensions.