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European Parliament elections were held in Gibraltar (which formed part of the European Parliament constituency of South West England). [1] 23 May 2019 as part of the EU-wide elections after the date of EU withdrawal was delayed by the UK Government. [2]
Gibraltar's European Union Withdrawal Act was passed in March 2019 with the support of the governing GSLP–Liberal coalition and an independent MP. The opposition Gibraltar Social Democrats originally did not intend to support the bill but later voted for it, but against parts of the legislation. [3] [4]
The withdrawal agreement is supported by the governing GSLP-Liberal coalition, [5] but opposed by the opposition Gibraltar Social Democrats. [6]
According to the Gibraltar newspaper Panorama , there had been a rise in Euroscepticism in Gibraltar since Spain was given a veto by the EU over Gibraltar's participation in the withdrawal agreement. [7]
Candidates from the Brexit Party, Liberal Democrats, English Democrats and UKIP visited Gibraltar to campaign in the elections. The Liberal Democrat lead candidate for the constituency accepted that there was "anger and frustration" with regards to the EU's actions towards Gibraltar after the referendum result, but stated that she felt the party's anti-Brexit message was being received well. [8]
Brexit Party candidate, James Glancy expressed concerns over the ramifications for Gibraltar of European federalisation, the Common Security and Defence Policy and influence of Spanish politicians in the EU in the event that Brexit would not happen. [9]
The result was a win for the Liberal Democrats, reflecting "clearly pro-EU and pro Remain" sentiment and with the Brexit Party taking second place, which "reflects not just frustration with the stagnated Brexit process, but also anger at the way the EU has backed Spain during the withdrawal negotiations", according to the Gibraltar Chronicle . [10]
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 7,220 | 77.38 | +10.22 | |
| Brexit Party | 746 | 7.99 | New | |
| Green Party | 467 | 5.00 | +3.83 | |
| Labour Party | 411 | 4.40 | –4.78 | |
| Conservative Party | 256 | 2.74 | –14.47 | |
| UKIP | 84 | 0.90 | –3.14 | |
| Change UK | 77 | 0.83 | New | |
| English Democrats | 59 | 0.63 | +0.30 | |
| Independents | 11 | 0.12 | New | |
| Total | 9,331 | 100.00 | – | |
| Valid votes | 9,331 | 98.83 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 110 | 1.17 | ||
| Total votes | 9,441 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 23,726 | 39.79 | ||
| Source: Parliament | ||||
The Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) is a liberal-conservative, centre-right political party in Gibraltar. The GSD was the governing party for four successive terms in office under the leadership of Peter Caruana, from the 1996 general election until the party's electoral defeat in the 2011 election by the GSLP–Liberal Alliance.
The Liberal Party of Gibraltar is a liberal political party in Gibraltar. It was founded in 1991 as the Gibraltar National Party and is led by Dr. Joseph Garcia. The LPG forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party.
The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) is a social-democratic political party in Gibraltar. The GSLP is the oldest surviving active political party in Gibraltar. Its roots are based in the trade union movement, as its founder and former leader Joe Bossano was the District Officer of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU). The party has been led since 2011 by Fabian Picardo, who has served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar since the 2011 general election. The GSLP forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the Liberal Party of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar elects on the national level a legislature. The Gibraltar Parliament has 17 members, all elected for a four-year term in one constituency with each voter getting to vote for their selection of ten candidates. Gibraltar forms a single constituency but voters have only ten votes. Hence the electoral bloc with the most votes will normally get ten seats and the runners up seven.
In British politics, a Lib–Lab pact is a working arrangement between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 11 October 2007. The incumbent Chief Minister Peter Caruana narrowly won a fourth term, but opposition leader Joe Bossano had a very strong showing. Joe Bossano noted that this would be his last term as an MP, and joked that he would not join the government, despite receiving a higher personal vote than some members of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD).
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 15 members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 84 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has nearly 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules, the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 8 December 2011. Two parties, the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) and the Progressive Democrative Party (PDP) and an alliance of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) and the Liberal Party of Gibraltar (LPG) each presented a full slate of ten candidates each, making a total of thirty candidates standing for seventeen seats in the Gibraltar Parliament. Members of Parliament in Gibraltar are elected "at-large" in a single electoral area covering the whole territory.
A by-election was held to the Gibraltar Parliament on 4 July 2013 to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Housing Minister Charles Bruzon in April 2013. The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP), Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and an independent contested the by-election. The Liberal Party of Gibraltar who is in alliance and in Government with the GSLP backed the GSLP's candidate.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 26 November 2015 to elect all 17 members to the third Gibraltar Parliament. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo announced the date of the election on Monday 19 October 2015 during a speech on the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019 to elect members of the House of Commons. The Conservative Party won a landslide victory with a majority of 80 seats, a net gain of 48, on 43.6% of the popular vote, the highest percentage for any party since the 1979 United Kingdom general election.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020, and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019, also known as the Repeal Bill is an Act of the Gibraltar Parliament announced by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, that transposed directly-applicable European Union law into the law of Gibraltar as part of the UK's exit from the European Union (Brexit). It has the same effect as the similarly named European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in the UK.
The Independent Group for Change, also known as Change UK, was a British centrist, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, after all its MPs lost their seats at the 2019 general election. Its principal aim was a second withdrawal referendum on European Union membership, in which it would campaign to remain in the EU. On economic issues it expressed a commitment to the social market economy.
A referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement, also referred to as a "second referendum", a "rerun", a "people's vote", or a "confirmatory public vote", was proposed by a number of politicians and pressure groups as a way to break the deadlock during the 2017–19 Parliament surrounding the meaningful vote on the Brexit deal.
The 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the announcement of the resignation of Vince Cable as leader on 24 May 2019, after just under two years as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom. The two candidates to succeed Cable were Ed Davey and Jo Swinson.
Caroline Jane Voaden is a British politician and international journalist, who served as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020, and was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West England and Gibraltar constituency from 2019 to 2020.
Various newspapers, organisations and individuals endorsed parties or individual candidates for the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom.
A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire on 1 August 2019 after Chris Davies, who had held the seat for the Conservatives since the 2015 general election, was unseated by a recall petition. The by-election was won by Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 12 October 2023 to elect all 17 members of the fifth Gibraltar Parliament. This was the first election in Gibraltar's history to use an electronic voting count system. The GSLP–Liberal Alliance secured a fourth term in office, though it saw its majority reduced to one seat, whilst the GSD became the sole opposition party, gaining two seats.
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