Career
He was Minister for Social Security, and later Minister for Public Works, in the governments of António Guterres. Born in Lisbon, he obtained the degree of licenciado in economics at what today is the Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão) of Lisbon University, and is a lecturer in economics at ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon. In 2002, Ferro Rodrogues was elected Secretary-General of the Portuguese Socialist Party, a position he retained for two years.
He resigned on 9 July 2004, immediately after President Jorge Sampaio announced a decision not to hold early elections when Prime Minister José Manuel Barroso stepped down from office in order to be appointed President of the European Commission.
Shortly after, Rodrigues was appointed as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the Organization of European Cooperation and Development. Following the October 2015 parliamentary election, he was elected as President of the Assembly of the Republic on 23 October 2015 with the support of the Socialists, the Communists and the Left Bloc. Ferro received 120 votes against 108 votes for the candidate of the centre-right government.