District 2 profile: The Labour fortress led by an Abela candidacy

In the latest in a district-by-district look at the key general election battles, Daniel Ellul profiles the second district, which includes Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, Żabbar, part of Fgura, Kalkara, part of Marsascala and Xgħajra. Read all the district profiles here. 

District two is Labour's safest electoral fortress. But in the upcoming general election, the party's biggest challenge may come from its own crowded ballot sheet. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana and Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri are all contesting the district, raising the prospect of a race shaped less by Labour's dominance over the PN and more by the fight among Labour candidates.

Since 2008, the district has returned four Labour MPs and one Nationalist MP at every general election. In 2022, Labour won 72 per cent of the vote there, its strongest district result nationwide. 

That dominance makes a PN upset highly unlikely. But with several senior Labour figures also contesting elsewhere, casual elections could become central to deciding who ultimately represents the district. 

The PL MPs elected in 2022 are prime minister Robert Abela, Clyde Caruana, Chris Agius, Alison Zerafa Civelli and Glenn Bedingfield. He made it to parliament via a casual election after Caruana gave up his district two seat, having also been elected on the eighth district.  

Agius, known by many as Il-Wefi, was first elected to parliament in 1996 and is not running this time.

For the PN, family doctor Stephen Spiteri was elected in 2022 and is widely expected to retain the party's only seat on the district. 

Abela's presence 

Abela is again constesting district two and district five, which includes Żurrieq and Birżebuġġa. 

A party leader on the ballot usually boosts turnout and energises voters in the area. But for Labour candidtes running alongside him, his presence is more complicated. 

Abela is all but certain to be elected and is expected to nab a massive share of PL’s first-count votes. In 2022, he received 11,694 first-count votes. That would leave the rest of the Labour field competing for the remaining seats likely to be available in the regular count. 

Caruana and Camilleri add another layer of uncertainty. Both are senior government figures and both are also running on two districts.  

As finance minister, Caruana, who is also contesting the eighth district, benefits from a national profile.  He has also featured prominently in Labour's election campaign as the party presents him as a competent technocrat, reguarly poking holes in the PN's financial proposals.

He is not known for heavy canvassing or district-level campaigning. But that strategy worked for him in 2022, when he received the second-highest number of votes among Labour candidates on that district.  

Camilleri also contested on the district in 2022 but was not elected. He still performed strongly, finishing just 150 behind Zerafa Civelli who won Labour's fourth. 

Several internal polls suggest Camilleri could perform better on district two this time, although the fourth district is understood to remain his focus.  

Casual elections could decide the final line-up

Under the electoral system, candidates elected on two districts must cede one of their seats, triggering a casual election. 

The votes of the candidate who gives up the seat are redistributed among those who contest the casual election with the strongest candidate eventually elected. 

Under Labour rules, the party executive decides which seat an MP who is elected on both seats keeps.

“I can’t see a scenario where we have three causal elections in one district, but having two is a real possibility,” a source with familiarity with the district said.

This time around, Bedingfield who has been the junior minister for public cleanliness since 2024, will be hoping to get elected without the need of a casual election. 

Alison Zerafa Civelli who has served as local councils junior minister throughout the legislature will be hoping to repeat her 2022 success. 

Both junior ministers are from Cospicua and see the Three Cities as their political base. 

Żabbar offers a route to parliament

Żabbar could also shape the outcome.

Two Labour candidates, Roderick Zerafa, and Jorge Grech, will be hoping to use their hometown of Żabbar as a springboard to parliament. 

Zerafa, CEO of  Servizzi Ewropej f’Malta, and former aide to deputy prime minister Ian Borg, has been working on an electoral bid for around a year. 

Grech was elected Żabbar mayor in 2019 and re-elected in 2024. He drew attention in November when he criticised an approved home for the elderly in the town square, saying the "horrific" project would “rape” the locality.

A Żabbar-focused strategy could prove effective because the town is by far the stirict's most populous locality.  The district has a combined population of  around 27,000. Żabbar alone accounts for some 17,000.

Other PL candidates include Clint Azzopardi Flores and James Grech. 

Despite a high profile bid for a European Parliament seat in summer 2024, which included a book launch, Azzopardi Flores failed to nab one of the three EU seats the PL won that election, receiving the sixth-highest number of first- count votes among Labour candidates. 

He is now contesting the second and ninth districts. 

While 2024’s bid could help his efforts, insiders note that Azzopardi Flores may have left his election bid to late to have a strong shot at a parliamentary seat. Azzopardi Flores publicly announced his candidacy on May 4, a few days into the campaign.  

Banker James Grech, also Żabbar, is less well known nationally. But in 2022, he received 1,961 total votes in 2022 amassing almost as much votes as Byron Camilleri. 

Grech also contested the 2019 European Parliament but failed to get elected. 

Former PL youths and lawyer Georvin Bugeja will also be hoping for a strong showing in the election. 

Spiteri remains PN favourite

The PN's ballot is far less crowded on this deep red district. 

Unlike the PL’s crowded ballot sheet, the PN is fielding four candidates on the district, with Stephen Spiteri strongly favouried to retain his seat. 

Spiteri has held the PN’s district two seat since 2008, when hew was elected through a casual election after Lawrence Gonzi gave up the seat. 

In 2022, Spiteri was elected on the first count with 4,736 votes. 

Insiders with knowledge of the district say the family doctor is also popular among some Labour voters. 

“It is well known that some Labour supporters give Spiteri their second preference vote even though he is from the PN," one source said.  

Spiteri is also contesting the third district. In 2022, he was also the PN's most popular candidate there, although his support was weaker than on district two.  

Although Spiteri is a favourite to nab a seat in both districts,  PN rules mean he is likely to keep his second district seat. 

Unlike Labour, PN’s rules oblige candidates elected on two districts to keep the seat where they received the most votes and give up the other. 

Bernice Bonello, who was elected through the gender corrective mechanism, could also be returned to parliament through the same route.  

Candidates running on the second district:

ADPD: Mallia Mario.

Aħwa Maltin: Salomone Paul.

Labour Party: Abela Carmelo, Abela Robert, Azzopardi-Flores Clinton-Domenic, Bedingfield Glenn, Bonello Jesmond, Buhagiar Martina Paula, Bugeja Georvin, Camilleri Byron, Caruana Clyde, Cassar Delia Edward, Grech James, Grech Jorge, Spiteri Grech Amanda, Woods Shana, Zerafa Roderick, Zerafa Civelli Alison.

Momentum: Agius Matthew.

Nationalist Party: Bonello Bernice, Camilleri John Baptist, Sciberras Leone, Spiteri Stephen.