Sandra Gauci became ADPD’s first councillor in five years on Wednesday after she was elected to the St Paul’s Bay local council on the fourth count.

Gauci, who leads the Green Party as its chairperson, obtained 557 first preferences in the local council election.

St Paul’s Bay is Malta’s largest locality by population but saw a relatively low turnout – 28.57% versus the 59.47% national average.

Elections there proved to be the day's high water mark for the Nationalist Party, which took back a council majority thanks to a dominant performance by former minister Censu Galea.

Galea got 2,151 first preference votes, more than double that of his nearest rival, incumbent Labour mayor Alfred Gima.

But it was a similarly memorable night for Gauci and the Greens, who said her election reflected a broader trend of people being fed up with PL/PN politics as usual.

In her first comments as an elected councillor, Gauci said she intended to prioritise cleanliness and open spaces.

“There is too much unsustainable development and the take-over of our coast by private interests is unacceptable,” she said.

She indicated she also intended to focus on recycling and zero waste efforts and intended to implement various waste reduction strategies for St Paul’s Bay – a densely populated area that sees high volumes of tourists and has a massive overseas population.

The locality’s foreign population may have been a contributing factor towards low turnout in the elections – all areas with large non-Maltese populations experienced low turnout – but Gauci believes she can help residents connect with their council.

“I do not only want to be the voice of residents, but also foster spaces where residents themselves will be able to bring their ideas in a direct and structured way - to us the local council,” she said.

ADPD fielded candidates in five local councils for the 2024 council elections.

Vote counting is taking place over three days, with Wednesday marking the first of those three.