2015 Gibraltar general election

The Gibraltar general election of 2015 to elect all 17 members to the 3rd Gibraltar Parliament took place on Thursday, 26 November 2015. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo announced the date of the election on Monday 19 October 2015 during a speech on the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.[2]

2015 Gibraltar general election

26 November 2015
17 seats to the Gibraltar Parliament 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Fabian Picardo Daniel Feetham Party Socialist Labour Social Democrats Alliance GSLP–Liberal - Leader since 2011 2013 Last election 10 seats, 48.9%[1] 7 seats, 46.8%[1] Seats won 10 7 Seat change Popular vote 100,950 46,545 Percentage 68.4% 31.6% Swing 19.6% 15.2%
Chief Minister before election Fabian Picardo Socialist Labour Elected Chief Minister Fabian Picardo Socialist Labour

Background

Under 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.[3][4] 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

The 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.[5][6] However, ultimately they did not field any candidates. There were also no independents, the first occasion on which no independents or members of any party outside of Parliament contested the elections.

Opinion polls

A GBC public opinion poll of 17 November predicted 67% for GSLP/Libs and 33% for GSD.[7]

Results

The results saw the first occasion on which a party won over 100,000. 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.

Party				Votes	%	+/–	Seats	%	+/–
	Alliance		Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party	70,551	47.8	+13.6	7	41.2	±0
			Liberal Party of Gibraltar	30,399	20.6	+6.0	3	17.6	±0
			Total Alliance	100,950	68.4	+19.6	10	58.8	±0
	Gibraltar Social Democrats			46,545	31.6	-15.2	7	41.2	±0
Total				147,495	100	-	17	100	-
Valid votes				15,578	94.6
Invalid/blank votes				897	5.4
Total votes cast				16,475	100
Registered voters/turnout				23,278	70.8
Source: Parliament of Gibraltar

The figures above have been consolidated by party. Under the Gibraltar electoral system, all candidates are listed on the ballot paper individually. Every voter has up to 10 votes to vote for their choice from all the candidates standing. Accordingly, although there are more seats available, the main parties field 10 candidates and hope to secure 'block votes'. Thus the total of 147,495 votes comes from 16,475 voters, a 70.8% turnout of the electorate.

By candidate

Candidate		Party	Votes	Notes
	Fabian Picardo	GSLP	10,852	Elected
	Joseph Garcia	LPG	10,661	Elected
	John Cortes	GSLP	10,529	Elected
	Gilbert Licudi	GSLP	10,379	Elected
	Albert Isola	GSLP	10,313	Elected
	Neil Costa	LPG	10,048	Elected
	Samantha Sacramento	GSLP	9,822	Elected
	Steven Linares	LPG	9,690	Elected
	Paul Balban	GSLP	9,511	Elected
	Joseph Bossano	GSLP	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

References

1. Oliva, Francis (9 December 2011). "Picardo Edges into Office with 2% Win". Gibraltar Chronicle. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
2. "Gibraltar calls elections for November 26". AFP. Yahoo! News. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
3. "Official text of the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006" (PDF). gibraltarlaws.gov.gi. 14 December 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
4. "Reporting of the Proceedings of the Gibraltar Parliament" (PDF). parliament.gi. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
5. UKIP To Contest Gibraltar 2015 General Election YGTV, 19 August 2013
6. UKIP hopes to fight elections in Gibraltar Archived 11 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar Chronicle, 1 March 2014
7. Latest GBC opinion poll gives the GSLP Liberal Alliance big lead over the GSD Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation, 17 November 2015