• Narrow victory for GSLP-Libs
• Alliance will govern with nine MPs
• GSD secures eight opposition seats
• Vijay Daryanani fails to win seat

Gibraltar is set for four more years of a GSLP-Liberal Alliance government after the party secured its fourth consecutive term with a 49.9% share of the vote, obtaining a narrow lead over the GSD with 48%. 

However, the GSLP-Liberals saw their parliamentary majority reduced by one seat. They will be able to form a Government with nine MPs with the GSD winning eight Opposition seats, two more than it held between 2019-2023.

Fabian Picardo, who has now won four out of four consecutive elections as leader of the Alliance and will be sworn in as Chief Minister later today, said the result was “an extraordinary run” for the party. 

The night was a disappointment for GSLP-Liberal candidate Vijay Daryanani who missed out on a seat in Parliament after four years as a minister.

The GSD’s Daniella Tilbury and Youssef El Hana and Independent Robert Vasquez (who polled at 2.1%) also didn’t secure enough votes to make it into Parliament.

The results were announced by the Returning Officer Simon Galliano just after 06:30 this morning.

NARROW LEAD

The vote was incredibly close, with results being published in real time on the Gibraltar Parliament website contributing to tense, nail-biting scenes at the John Mackintosh Hall during the count. 

At the early stages of the vote, even a political giant like former Chief Minister Sir Joe Bossano - who has been an MP for 51 years - dipped temporarily below the threshold necessary to enter Parliament. 

MAKEUP OF PARLIAMENT

In contrast to other recent elections, and as proof of how close both parties were in terms of total votes, the GSLP-Liberals only managed to secure nine out of a possible ten seats. It is the first time that the nine/eight split has manifested itself in Parliament since the 2006 Constitution increased the number of elected representatives from 15 to 17.

The 17 seats have been divided up as follows:

- The slate of nine new ministers, set to be sworn in later this morning, includes party leader Fabian Picardo, Joseph Garcia, John Cortes and Sir Joe Bossano, who return for their fourth consecutive term, and five new faces without parliamentary experience: Nigel Feetham, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, Christian Santos, Pat Orfila and Leslie Bruzon.

- The Opposition benches will include four newcomers to the political scene - Craig Sacarello, Joelle Ladislaus, Giovanni Origo and Atrish Sanchez - together with the re-elected team of party leader Keith Azopardi, Damon Bossino, Roy Clinton and Edwin Reyes.

In total there will be four women in Parliament, the highest number in Gibraltar’s political history.

PICARDO

The GSLP-Liberal leader Fabian Picardo, who will now serve his fourth term as Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, said the result was an “extraordinary run” of four elections won “on the trot.” 

He noted it was remarkable that after COVID and during a cost of living crisis, his party was still able to attract the support of half of the people of Gibraltar, “more than would be expected in any democracy to govern.” 

He congratulated Liberal Party leader Dr Joseph Garcia, remarking that he had “deservedly” topped the polls with the most votes.

He thanked the party machinery adding that this election “had been a tough one” but they had in the end “prevailed once again”. 

He said he deprecated the fact that an anonymous message had been circulated during polling day purporting to be from Keith Azopardi suggesting changes to the Government’s ITLD team in charge of the count. 

Mr Picardo also expressed solidarity with the state of Israel announcing that the Moorish Castle had been lit in blue (and will remain so until Sunday evening) at 10pm once polling stations closed so that it would not interfere with the campaign.

On matters of policy Mr Picardo said his new team would consider “even further democratic reform.” He also promised that the accounts of all Government companies will be published online.

The GSLP-Liberal leader said the new Government would build more houses and make the health service “more responsive to the citizen.” 

“Our mandate is not to stop, to review and audit…it is to do and do we will!”

He ended with a message for Spanish leader Pedro Sanchez urging him to form a government and “together finish the treaty that we started."

AZOPARDI

Keith Azopardi, the GSD Leader, said the results presented a “deeply divided political panorama,” adding that the “serious issues” that had been aired during the tough month-long campaign will not go away “magically as of today.”

He admitted it had been “a difficult campaign” and that despite the hard work he said his party had put in since 2019, he was disappointed. 

He added: “The result reflects that a lot of people in Gibraltar feel the need for change” and urged the newly elected administration to reflect on this. 

He congratulated and offered his assistance to the incoming GSLP-Liberal Government on matters of public and national interest “despite our differences” but said the GSD would also be “robust in criticism.”  

VASQUEZ

Independent candidate Robert Vasquez, who secured 3,262 votes, said he had done his best and that his result “showed an appetite” for a wider selection of candidates in the future. 

He said: “I wish that both parties look to unite Gibraltar. We are very divided - it’s nearly fifty-fifty. I hope for the sake of Gibraltar that we try and achieve a system that will help us go forward.”

TURNOUT: 76.41% 

In total, 76.41% of the electorate came out to vote in yesterday’s General Election. This breaks down as 19,256 people casting their vote out of a record-breaking electorate of 25,200 people. 

This represented an increase compared to 2019 and 2015 when around  70% of a smaller electorate voted. In the 2011 contest, however, some 83% of those eligible to vote did so.

All nine winning GSLP-Liberal candidates will be sworn in at the Convent later this morning by His Excellency the Governor.

TOGETHER GIBRALTAR

Together Gibraltar, the party that decided not to field any candidates for this election, congratulated the GSLP-Liberals on their election win following what it described as “a closely fought, and often bitter, campaign.” 

A statement from the party continued: “The narrow margin of this result indicates a growing discontent with their governance which we hope they will reckon with. While we strongly disagree with the GSD’s decision to keep spouting on about nepotism and corruption without evidence, we believe this result is a clear sign that people are sick and tired of being left out of decision-making. It is also a sign that the Gibraltar economy is leaving far too many behind.”