Gonçalves is standing for the Liberal Democrats in Rugby, 140 kilometres northwest of London in the general election on 7 May. In his campaign literature he is known as ‘Ed’.
“I want to sent a message to the Portuguese here in Rugby, but also around the whole country: we’re not very well represented in politics and in civil society here in the United Kingdom and to fight and defend our interests and promote our values we have to be visible, we have to be integrated, we have to participate,” he told Lusa News Agency.
Gonçalves, who currently works for an environment organisation, Climate Change Group, is the son of a Portuguese couple but was born in London. In comments to Lusa, he said he hoped members of the Portuguese community would seek to contribute to their host society.
In his own campaign, Gonçalves has made immigration one of the main themes of his campaign.
“I started getting ever more concerned with the rise of UKIP [United Kingdom Independence Party], which is a far-right party, which has a platform against immigrants and immigration,” he said.
“That’s why, for the first time, I wanted to be a candidate, to go against this trend that has been influencing all British politics.”
According to members of the local Portuguese community in Rugby, the hope is that Gonçalves’s candidacy can help the embryonic Portuguese association in the town.