# 2015 Gibraltar general election

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.

## 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. 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. However, ultimately they did not field any candidates. There were also no independents.

### Party slogans

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Slogan |
| | GSLP/Libs Alliance | "The Strongest Foundations For Your Future" |
| | GSD | "Forward Together" |

### Incumbent MPs (from 2011)

| Candidate | Party | Seeking re-election? | Parliamentary role(s) |
| Fabian Picardo (since 2003) | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Chief Minister |
| John Cortes (since 2011) | 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 (since 1999) | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG) | Yes | Deputy Chief Minister |
| Gilbert Licudi (since 2007) | 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 (since 1972) | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) (since 1980) | 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 (since 1991) | GSD | No | Leader of the Opposition (2011–2013) Opposition Backbencher (2013-2015) |
| Neil Costa (since 2011) | 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 (since 2007) | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister (2011–2013) Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Gaming and GSB (since 2013) |
| Steven Linares (since 2000) | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG) | Yes | Minister for Sports, Culture, Heritage and Youth |
| Samantha Sacramento (since 2011) | 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 (since 2011) | 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 (since 2011) | 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 (since 2011) | 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 (since 2007) | GSD | Yes | Shadow Minister for Sports, Culture, Heritage, Youth and Education (2011–2015) |
| Jaime Netto (since 1996) | GSD | No | Shadow Minister (2011–2013) Shadow Minister for Environment (2013–2015) |
| Selwyn Figueras (since 2011) | GSD | No | Shadow Minister (2011–2013) Shadow Minister for Justice, Financial Services, Planning, Traffic and Transport (2013–2015) |
| Albert Isola (since 2013) | GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP) | Yes | Minister for Financial Services and Gaming |

## Opinion polls

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

## Results

The 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.
| | Alliance | | Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party | 70,551 | 47.83 | 7 | 0 |
| | Alliance | | Liberal Party of Gibraltar | 30,399 | 20.61 | 3 | 0 |
| | Alliance | Total | Total | 100,950 | 68.44 | 10 | 0 |
| | Gibraltar Social Democrats | Gibraltar Social Democrats | Gibraltar Social Democrats | 46,545 | 31.56 | 7 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 147,495 | 100.00 | 17 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 15,578 | 94.56 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 897 | 5.44 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 16,475 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 23,278 | 70.77 | | |
| Source: Parliament of Gibraltar ||||||||

### By candidate

| Candidate | 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 ||||||