2019 Gibraltar general election

2019 Gibraltar general election
All 17 seats in the Gibraltar Parliament ; 9 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	70.84% (0.07pp)
Chief Minister before election; Fabian Picardo; Socialist Labour	Elected Chief Minister; Fabian Picardo; Socialist Labour

Last updated November 17, 2024

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

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

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

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)

	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



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

Candidate		Party	Alliance	Votes	Notes
	Fabian Picardo	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	9,961	Elected
	Joseph Garcia	LPG	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	9,672	Elected
	John Cortes	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	9,003	Elected
	Albert Isola	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	8,502	Elected
	Joseph Bossano	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	8,374	Elected
	Gilbert Licudi	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	8,293	Elected
	Steven Linares	LPG	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	7,718	Elected
	Paul Balban	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	7,251	Elected
	Samantha Sacramento	GSLP	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	7,192	Elected
	Vijay Daryanani	LPG	GSLP–Liberal Alliance	7,156	Elected
	Marlene Hassan-Nahon	TG	None	5,639	Elected
	Damon Bossino	GSD	None	4,868	Elected
	Daniel Feetham	GSD	None	4,842	Elected
	Keith Azopardi	GSD	None	4,711	Elected
	Roy Clinton	GSD	None	4,342	Elected
	Elliott Phillips	GSD	None	4,165	Elected
	Edwin Reyes	GSD	None	3,840	Elected
	Craig Sacarello	TG	None	3,805
	Alfred Ballester	GSD	None	3,681
	Joelle Ladislaus	GSD	None	3,484
	Trevor Hammond	GSD	None	3,451	Unseated
	Siân Jones	TG	None	3,345
	John Montegriffo	TG	None	3,158
	Orlando Yeats	GSD	None	3,069
	Kamlesh Khubchand Daswani	TG	None	3,035
	Neil Samtani	TG	None	2,889
	Daniel Ghio	TG	None	2,780
	Erika Pozo	TG	None	2,640
	Jackie Anderson	TG	None	2,619
	Tamsin Suarez	TG	None	2,545
	Robert Vasquez	Independent	None	1,460
	John Charles Pons	Independent	None	838
Source: Parliament of Gibraltar, Together Gibraltar Candidates

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References

1 2 "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.

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[GBC-election-date-1] 1 2 "General election called for 17th October". Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation . 16 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.

[2] "Picardo celebrates third consecutive election win". Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation . 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.

[3] "Official text of the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006". Laws of Gibraltar. 14 December 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2022.

[4] "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.

[5] "Gibraltar heads to the polls amid no-deal Brexit fears". Politico. 15 October 2019.

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