As the mad rush around the European and local elections cycle cools off and the shutters of the Naxxar counting hall come down for another few years, we looking back at the biggest winners and surprising losses of the season.

WINNERS

Roberta Metsola and Alex Agius Saliba smash voting records

The star MEP candidates for both Labour and PN swept up a record number of votes at the polls, solidifying their status as frontrunners for their respective parties.

European Parliament president Metsola made a record-breaking impression with voters, receiving 87,473 first-preference votes. The number is the highest ever received by a single candidate in Malta’s MEP electoral history.

Agius Saliba also soared at the polls with 63,899 votes, a record number for Labour MEP candidates and which saw him surpass the previous title-holder of the PL’s most popular MEP, Miriam Dalli.

It also represented a significant jump in votes for Labour’s lead voice in the EU, having gone up from 18,808 in 2019.

Thomas Bajada, the dark horse

The 29-year-old Gozitan technocrat was something of an enigma in this year’s electoral race. Despite starting his campaign late and not organising any significantly large campaign events, he made a strong impression with voters, to the detriment of candidates like Steve Ellul and Clint Azzopardi Flores who had stronger ties to the party.

Council kingmakers

This elections cycle has seen the emergence of hung councils, thanks in no small part to the independent councillors who managed to snag seats in

their localities, leaving no majority for either PN or PL. Kaylocke Buhagiar in Birkirkara, Matthew Borg Cuschieri in Mellieħa and Nigel Holland in Floriana are expected to be the kingmakers in their respective councils.

The wave of Zammit Lupi

Popular independent Żebbuġ councillor Steve Zammit Lupi received an overwhelming 2,342 votes in the election, in the process being able to transfer enough votes to his mother, Lillibeth Zammit Lupi, who will also be joining him on the council. Steve, a well-known environmental campaigner, is expected to serve as the town’s mayor, having received the highest number of votes.

The mayor who switched sides and won

Għasri mayor Daniel Attard resigned from the PN in 2022 and questions arose on whether he would be able to hold onto his seat. But Attard ran on the PL’s ticket and won again, helping flip the village red.

Malta’s youngest councillor

Sixteen-year-old Izak Catania De Giovanni, the son of Labour MP Katya De Giovanni, made history in becoming the youngest person to ever win a council seat in Malta. Despite the somewhat controversial inclusion of 16-year-olds on the ballot, Gabriel Borg Ferrando in St Julian’s and Nina Skye Briffa in Qrendi also managed to get elected on the PN ticket. Catania De Giovanni’s fellow 16-year-old Labour candidate Andre Mizzi missed the mark to join him on the council.

LOSERS

The far right bucks the trend

Despite far-right movements gaining significant traction in MEP votes across several countries in Europe, Malta seemed to have bucked the trend, with Imperium Europe failing to make a splash at the polls. Despite being long-established in Malta, the party’s vote share decreased from 3% in 2019 to 2% this time around.

Pollsters miss the mark

All polls ahead of the MEP elections said that Labour was projected to win by a much bigger majority than it actually did, much to the surprise of those counting and watching on election day. Pollsters themselves think that the undecided voters ultimately swayed at the last second.

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Despite managing to elect two councillors and making some traction in the MEP polls, the party lost a lot of ground to Arnold Cassola and Conrad Borg Manche. Most of the other independent candidates also barely scratched the surface.

Labour’s supermajority

Despite the phrase “40,000” followed by a string of lemon emojis having established itself as the rallying cry of Labour’s unassailable electoral majority, that footing is no longer as solid, with the lead having shrunk to 8,454. Robert Abela’s demure victory speech certainly contributed to the idea that this win was not being treated like a win.

Roderick Galdes and the Siġġiewi blunder

Despite the housing minister saying he still enjoys the PM’s confidence, reports that Galdes got a dressing down from Abela are pervasive. It is understood that he was blamed for the Siġġiewi social housing debacle that saw magistrates reversing an order to register 99 voters in unfinished flats ahead of the election.

The Joseph Muscat movement

From teasing an MEP candidacy, the former prime minister spent the latter half of the campaign embroiled in the start of a court battle in the wake of the Vitals inquiry. If his earlier statements were testing the waters for a potential return to politics, the prolonged court battle ahead has certainly seen that window firmly shut. Analysts also suggest that Muscat’s status splits opinion among Labour voters, with the hardcore questioning why Muscat wasn’t defended more by the party and moderates preferring the party to distance itself from its former leader.