Keith Azopardi

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ISBN 978-1-84113-916-6) discussing the constitutional status of Gibraltar, and proposing ways forward to achieve an enduring settlement to the dispute with Spain. [1] [2]

In July 2017, he rejoined with the GSD and has represented himself as candidate for 2017 Gibraltar Social Democrats leadership election, opposing Roy Clinton. He won the elections and became the new leader of the GSD in 30 November 2017.[ citation needed ]

Azopardi led the party into the 2019 election, focusing on the theme of "The Gibraltar You Deserve" but ultimately was defeated by the incumbent GSLP-Liberals under the leadership of chief minister Fabian Picardo who won a third term in office. The party suffered the loss of a seat to Together Gibraltar, who won their first ever seat in parliament, and an overall decrease in their share of the vote by 6.01%. [3]

Following the 2019 election, Azopardi remained as party leader and served as leader of the opposition again during the 13th Parliament of Gibraltar. He took the party into the 2023 election, and polling throughout the campaign showed the GSD narrowly ahead and at times statistically tied with the GSLP-Liberals. The party focused their campaign on the theme of change after eleven years of Fabian Picardo serving as chief minister, using the slogan "Make The Change For a Bright Future". Despite the GBC exit poll [4] on election night suggesting an incredibly narrow victory for the party with Keith Azopardi expected to become chief minister, ultimately once the votes had been counted the party fell short of government and Fabian Picardo and the GSLP-Liberals won a fourth consecutive term in office. Despite suffering a surprising defeat, the party gained two seats and increased their vote share by 22.6% and made political history in Gibraltar by becoming the first opposition to hold eight seats versus the traditional seven seats the opposition have won in previous elections.[ citation needed ]

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Keith Azopardi
KC MP
Keith Azopardi 2011 4x3 cropped.jpg
Azopardi in 2011
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
30 November 2017