Gibraltar Parliament
36°08′27″N 5°21′14″W / 36.140775°N 5.353758°W
Gibraltar Parliament | |
|---|---|
| 14th Gibraltar Parliament | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Sovereign | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
| Established | 1969 |
| Leadership | |
Karen Ramagge Prescott (non-affiliated) since 10 November 2023 | |
Leader of The House | |
Leader of The Opposition | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 17 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (9)
Opposition (8)
|
| Elections | |
| Limited voting | |
Last election | 12 October 2023 |
Next election | No later than 8 March 2028 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Parliament building, John Mackintosh Square, Gibraltar | |
| Website | |
| Parliament.gi | |
 |
|---|
 Gibraltar portal |
The Gibraltar Parliament is the legislature of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Between 1969 and 2006, it was called the Gibraltar House of Assembly.
Functions
[edit]The House of Assembly, set up under the 1969 constitution, was a unicameral body originally consisting of 15 members elected by the Gibraltar electorate, plus two appointed members including the Attorney-General. The term "House of Assembly" has been commonly used for the legislatures of British territories that are less than fully sovereign. It was replaced by the current Gibraltar Parliament by the new 2006 constitution, reflecting an increase in its sovereignty. All 17 of the new Parliament's members are elected.
Under the election system, each voter was allowed to vote for ten members of the Assembly. Due to the small area of Gibraltar and its territorial continuity, precincts served only as polling places, not political units, and there are no electoral districts served by the members, who were instead elected "at large" to serve the territory as a whole.
The system lends itself to block voting – each of the parties or electoral coalitions tended to nominate a slate of ten candidates and encourage its supporters to vote for all of them. In most cases, the winning party or coalition would have all ten of its nominees elected, with the other seven elected members coming from the second-place party.
Parliament building
[edit]
The Parliament sits in a building overlooking Main Street and John Mackintosh Square. It was constructed in 1817 and previously served as the Exchange and Commercial Library. In 1951, the building was refurbished to host the Legislative Council.[1] Under the 1969 Constitution, the House of Assembly was established, superseding the Legislative Council. The first session of the House of Assembly was opened on 28 August 1969 by the then Governor, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg.[2]
Current membership
[edit]The 17 Members of the Gibraltar Parliament, as of the 2023 election, are:
| Candidate | Party | |
|---|---|---|
| Fabian Picardo | GSLP | |
| Joseph Garcia | LPG | |
| Joseph Bossano | GSLP | |
| John Cortes | GSLP | |
| Patricia Orfila | GSLP | |
| Christian Santos | GSLP | |
| Gemma Arias-Vasquez | GSLP | |
| Nigel Feetham | GSLP | |
| Leslie Bruzon | LPG | |
| Keith Azopardi | GSD | |
| Edwin Reyes | GSD | |
| Roy Clinton | GSD | |
| Damon Bossino | GSD | |
| Craig Sacarello | GSD | |
| Giovanni Origo | GSD | |
| Atrish Sanchez | GSD | |
| Joelle Ladislaus | GSD | |
Latest election
[edit]Summary of the 12 October 2023 Gibraltar Parliament election results
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | % | +/– | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance | Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party | 63.700 | 35.44 | -1.56 | 7 | 41.2 | ±0 | |||
| Liberal Party of Gibraltar | 26,241 | 14.60 | -0.9 | 2 | 11.8 | -1 | ||||
| Total Alliance | 83,122 | 50.04 | -2.46 | 9 | 53.0 | -1 | ||||
| Gibraltar Social Democrats | 86,537 | 48.15 | +22.6 | 8 | 35.3 | +2 | ||||
| Together Gibraltar* | 0 | 0 | -20.55 | 0 | 0 | -1 | ||||
| Independents | 3.262 | 1.81 | +0.36 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||||
| Total | 179,740 | 100 | - | 17 | 100 | - | ||||
| Valid votes | 18,784 | 97.55 | ||||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 472 | 2.45 | ||||||||
| Total votes cast | 19,256 | 100 | ||||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 25,200 | 76.41 | ||||||||
| Source: Parliament of Gibraltar Archived 18 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Gibraltar Parliament General Election Archived 8 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Registered | *Together Gibraltar did not contest 2023 Gibraltar general election. | |||||||||
See also
[edit]- Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006
- 2006 Gibraltarian constitutional referendum
- Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament
References
[edit]- ^ Benady, Tito (1996). The Streets of Gibraltar. Gibraltar Books. pp. 17–18. ISBN 0-948466-37-5.
- ^ "The Gibraltar Parliament – Home". parliament.gi. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012.
External links
[edit]
