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.[1]
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All 17 seats in the Gibraltar Parliament 9 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editUnder section 38(2) of the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006, the parliament must be dissolved by the Governor four years after its first meeting following the last election (unless the Chief Minister advises the Governor 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.[2][3] In October 2015, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo announced that the election would take place on 26 November. Following the British tradition, elections in Gibraltar conventionally take place on a Thursday.
Campaign
editThe UK-based UK Independence Party announced in 2014 that it was planning on fielding candidates for the first time in Gibraltar's next general election.[4][5] However, ultimately they did not field any candidates. There were also no independents.
Party slogans
edit| Party or alliance | Slogan | |
|---|---|---|
| GSLP/Libs Alliance | "The Strongest Foundations For Your Future" | |
| GSD | "Forward Together" | |
Incumbent MPs (from 2011)
edit| Candidate | Party | Seeking re-election? |
Parliamentary role(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabian Picardo | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Chief Minister | |
| John Cortes | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Health and Environment (2011–2014) Minister for Health, the Environment, Energy and Climate Change (2014–2015) | |
| Joseph Garcia | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG) | Yes | Deputy Chief Minister | |
| Gilbert Licudi | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Education, Financial Services, Gaming, Telecommunications and Justice (2011–2013) Minister for Education, Telecommunications and Justice (2013–2014) Minister for Education and Justice & International Exchange of Information (2014–2015) | |
| Joseph Bossano | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Enterprise, Training and Employment (2011–2013) Minister for Enterprise, Training, Employment and Health & Safety (2013–2014) Minister for Economic Development, Telecommunications & the GSB (2014–2015) | |
| Peter Caruana | GSD | No | Leader of the Opposition (2011–2013) Shadow Backbencher (2013-2015) | |
| Neil Costa | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG) | Yes | Minister for Tourism, Public Transport and the Port (2011–2012) Minister for Tourism, Commercial Affairs, Public Transport and the Port (2012–2014) Minister for Business, Employment, Skills & Training (2014–2015) | |
| Daniel Feetham | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister (2011–2013) Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Gaming and GSB (since 2013) | |
| Steven Linares | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG) | Yes | Minister for Sports, Culture, Heritage and Youth | |
| Samantha Sacramento | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Equality and Social Services (2011–2013) Minister for Equality, Social Services and the Elderly (2013–2014) Minister for Tourism, Housing, Equality and Social Services (2014–2015) | |
| Isobel Ellul-Hammond | GSD | No | Shadow Minister for Health and Civil Contingencies (2011–2013) Shadow Minister for Health, Civil Contingencies, Care Services, the Elderly, Family, Equality and Civil Rights (2013–2015) | |
| Paul Balban | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Traffic, Health & Safety and Technical Services (2011–2013) Minister for Traffic, Housing and Technical Services (2013–2014) Minister for Transport, Traffic and Technical Services (2014–2015) | |
| Damon Bossino | GSD | No | Shadow Minister for Tourism, Aviation and Shipping (2011–2013) Shadow Minister for Tourism, Aviation, Shipping, Enterprise, Training, Employment and Health & Safety (2013–2015) | |
| Edwin Reyes | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Sports, Culture, Heritage, Youth and Education (2011–2015) | |
| Jaime Netto | GSD | No | Shadow Minister (2011–2013) Shadow Minister for Environment (2013–2015) | |
| Selwyn Figueras | GSD | No | Shadow Minister (2011–2013) Shadow Minister for Justice, Financial Services, Planning, Traffic and Transport (2013–2015) | |
| Albert Isola[a] | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Financial Services and Gaming | |
Opinion polls
editA GBC public opinion poll of 17 November predicted 67% for GSLP/Libs and 33% for GSD.[6]
Results
editThe results saw the first occasion on which a party received over 100,000 votes. Both the GSLP and LPG received more votes in the elections than in any other previous general elections, with the LPG receiving the highest percentage of votes in its history. Contrastingly, the GSD saw the largest drop in its vote share in its history. Voter turnout (70.77%) was the lowest since 1980.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||
| Alliance | Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party | 70,551 | 47.83 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Liberal Party of Gibraltar | 30,399 | 20.61 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 100,950 | 68.44 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Gibraltar Social Democrats | 46,545 | 31.56 | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 147,495 | 100.00 | 17 | 0 | |||
| Valid votes | 15,578 | 94.56 | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 897 | 5.44 | |||||
| Total votes | 16,475 | 100.00 | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 23,278 | 70.77 | |||||
| Source: Parliament of Gibraltar | |||||||
By candidate
edit| Candidate | Party | Alliance | Votes | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabian Picardo | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 10,852 | Elected | |
| Joseph Garcia | LPG | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 10,661 | Elected | |
| John Cortes | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 10,529 | Elected | |
| Gilbert Licudi | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 10,379 | Elected | |
| Albert Isola | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 10,313 | Elected | |
| Neil Costa | LPG | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 10,048 | Elected | |
| Samantha Sacramento | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 9,822 | Elected | |
| Steven Linares | LPG | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 9,690 | Elected | |
| Paul Balban | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 9,511 | Elected | |
| Joseph Bossano | GSLP | GSLP–Liberal Alliance | 9,145 | Elected | |
| Daniel Feetham | GSD | - | 5,054 | Elected | |
| Marlene Hassan Nahon | GSD | - | 4,892 | Elected | |
| Elliott Phillips | GSD | - | 4,784 | Elected | |
| Edwin Reyes | GSD | - | 4,766 | Elected | |
| Roy Clinton | GSD | - | 4,733 | Elected | |
| Trevor Hammond | GSD | - | 4,578 | Elected | |
| Lawrence Llamas | GSD | - | 4,565 | Elected | |
| Robert Vasquez | GSD | - | 4,535 | ||
| Christopher White | GSD | - | 4,324 | ||
| Kim Karnani-Santos | GSD | - | 4,314 | ||
| Source: Parliament of Gibraltar | |||||
Notes
edit- ^ Elected in 2013 by-election after the death of elected MP and Minister for Housing and the Elderly, Charles Bruzon.
References
edit- ^ "Gibraltar calls elections for November 26". AFP. Yahoo! News. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Official text of the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006". Gibraltar Laws. 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.
- ^ UKIP To Contest Gibraltar 2015 General Election YGTV, 19 August 2013
- ^ UKIP hopes to fight elections in Gibraltar Archived 11 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar Chronicle, 1 March 2014
- ^ Latest GBC opinion poll gives the GSLP Liberal Alliance big lead over the GSD Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation, 17 November 2015