2019 Gibraltar general election
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All 17 seats in the Gibraltar Parliament 9 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 70.84% ( 0.07pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of a series of articles on |
| Brexit |
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Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union Glossary of terms |
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 17 October 2019 to elect all 17 members to the fourth Gibraltar Parliament. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo announced the date of the election on Monday 16 September 2019.[1] In September 2019, it was announced that Libs MP and GSLP/Libs Minister, Neil Costa, would not seek re-election and had his candidacy and seat replaced by Vijay Daryanani of the same party.
The GSLP–Liberal Alliance won their third consecutive election, retaining their majority in the Parliament. Fabian Picardo was returned as Chief Minister of Gibraltar. However both the governing GSLP–Liberal Alliance and the opposition Gibraltar Social Democrats lost votes to new party Together Gibraltar, which won one seat from the GSD.[2]
Timing and procedure
[edit]Under section 38(2) of the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006, the parliament must be dissolved four years after its first meeting following the last election (unless the Chief Minister advises the Governor of Gibraltar to dissolve parliament sooner). Under section 37 of the Constitution, writs for a general election must be issued within thirty days of the dissolution and the general election must then be held no later than three months after the issuing of a writ.[3][4] In September 2019, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo formally asked Governor Ed Davis to dissolve parliament and call an election for 17 October 2019.[1] Following the British tradition, elections in Gibraltar conventionally take place on a Thursday.
MPs were elected through limited voting.
Campaign
[edit]The issue of Brexit (formerly due to take place exactly two weeks after election day) was a major theme in the election campaign, with incumbent Chief Minister Fabian Picardo stating that the territory is ready for a 'no deal' Brexit.[5]
Party slogans
[edit]| Party or alliance | Slogan | |
|---|---|---|
| GSLP/Libs Alliance | "All Our Generations in Our Hearts" | |
| GSD | "The Gibraltar You Deserve" | |
| Together Gibraltar | "Believe in a better way" | |
| Robert Vasquez | "Your Fearless and Independent Voice" | |
| John Charles Pons | "Vote for: The Planet, Humanity, Youths' Future, Greta Thunberg" | |
Incumbent MPs (from 2015)
[edit]| Candidate | Party | Seeking re-election? | Parliamentary role(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabian Picardo | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Chief Minister (since 2011) | Due to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, in the reshuffle he relinquished his responsibilities of the media to Steven Linares | |
| Joseph Garcia | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (LPG]) | Yes | Deputy Chief Minister (since 2011) | At the reshuffle, he inherited responsibilities of Exiting the EU. | |
| John Cortes | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Health, the Environment, Energy and Climate Change (2015–2016) Minister for the Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Climate Education (2016–2019) |
Ministries reshuffled as a result of the aftermath of the Brexit referendum | |
| Gilbert Licudi | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Education, and Justice & International Exchange of Information (2015–2016) Minister for Tourism, Employment, Commercial Aviation and the Port (2016–2019) |
Ministries reshuffled as a result of the aftermath of the Brexit referendum | |
| Albert Isola | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Financial Services and Gaming (2015–2016) Minister for Commerce (2016–2019) |
Ministries reshuffled as a result of the aftermath of the Brexit referendum | |
| Neil Costa | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (LPG]) | No | Minister for Business & Employment (2015–2016) Minister for Health, Care and Justice (2016–2019) |
Ministries reshuffled as a result of the aftermath of the Brexit referendum | |
| Samantha Sacramento | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Tourism, Housing, Equality and Social Services (2015–2016) Minister for Housing and Equality (2016–2019) |
Ministries reshuffled as a result of the aftermath of the Brexit referendum | |
| Steven Linares | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (LPG]) | Yes | Minister for Sports, Culture, Heritage and Youth (2015–2016) Minister for Culture, the Media, Youth and Sport (2016–2019) |
Inherited responsibilities of the media away from the Chief Minister himself by him. Reshuffled due to aftermath of Brexit referendum. | |
| Paul Balban | GSLP-Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Transport, Traffic and Technical Services (2015–2016) Minister for Infrastructure and Planning (2016–2019) |
Ministries reshuffled as a result of the aftermath of the Brexit referendum | |
| Daniel Feetham | GSD | Yes | Leader of the Opposition (2013–2017) | He was voted by the GSD's membership against his colleague, Damon Bossino, to be party leader since 2013 (thus making him Leader of the Opposition). He resigned his post in 2017 after whip resignations from Marlene Hassan-Nahon and Lawrence Llamas respectively. | |
| Marlene Hassan-Nahon | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Health, Education & Broadcasting and Media (2015–2016) Independent Opposition MP (2016–2018) Together Gibraltar MP (2018–2019) |
Elected as GSD Opposition Whip. Later, in 2016, she left the party due to alleged "toxic" ideology under Daniel Feetham's leadership. Afterward, she became an Independent until 2018, when she founded her political movement, Together Gibraltar (later evolved to a political party after membership votes in 2019). | |
| Elliot Phillips | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Justice, Employment and Training, Youth, Equality, Civil Rights, Exchange of Information & Drugs and Rehabilitation | ||
| Edwin Reyes | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Housing, Sports and Leisure, Culture & Civil Contingencies | ||
| Roy Clinton | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Public Finance, GSB, Inward Investment, Small Business and Heritage (since 2015) Interim Leader of the Opposition (2017) Opposition Parliamentary Leader (2017–2019) |
Inherited Interim Leader of the Opposition after Daniel Feetham's resignation. He was a candidate for the permanent role against re-joined former MP, Minister and DCM, Keith Azopardi. He was unsuccessful for the role after a leadership election from his party's membership. He became the GSD's Parliament Leader due to new LoO, Keith Azopardi, originally haven't been a candidate from the last election. | |
| Trevor Hammond | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Environment, Transport and Traffic, Technical Services, Utilities, Planning, Health and Safety & European Affairs | ||
| Lawrence Llamas | GSD | No | Shadow Minister for Social Services, Families and Children, Tourism, The Port & Animal Abuse and Welfare (2015–2017 & 2018–2019) Independent MP (2017–2018) |
Resigned his whip in 2017 due to ideological disagreements with Daniel Feetham. He later rejoined after Keith Azopardi became the new Leader of the Opposition | |
Results
[edit] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||
| Alliance | Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party | 58,576 | 37.00 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Liberal Party of Gibraltar | 24,546 | 15.50 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 83,122 | 52.50 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Gibraltar Social Democrats | 40,453 | 25.55 | 6 | –1 | |||
| Together Gibraltar | 32,455 | 20.50 | 1 | +1 | |||
| Independents | 2,298 | 1.45 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 158,328 | 100.00 | 17 | 0 | |||
| Valid votes | 16,767 | 97.85 | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 368 | 2.15 | |||||
| Total votes | 17,135 | 100.00 | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 24,189 | 70.84 | |||||
| Source: Parliament, Parliament | |||||||
By candidate
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "General election called for 17th October". Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "Picardo celebrates third consecutive election win". Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Official text of the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006". Laws of Gibraltar. 14 December 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Reporting of the Proceedings of the Gibraltar Parliament" (PDF). Parliament of Gibraltar. 21 December 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ^ "Gibraltar heads to the polls amid no-deal Brexit fears". Politico. 15 October 2019.
