Labour has found its first - and possibly only - Gozitan candidate for June's MEP election - 29-year-old fisheries technocrat Thomas Bajada.

Bajada is the government's technical attaché on fisheries at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union in Brussels and over the past four years he also represented Malta on the Council of the EU in negotiations related to the aquaculture industry.

Speaking to Times of Malta on Wednesday morning, Bajada confirmed he intended to submit his MEP candidature in the coming days after he accepted Prime Minister Robert Abela's request to run.

If the PL accepts his candidature, Bajada will become the first - and possibly only candidate - to fill the party's gaping hole left by Josianne Cutajar in Gozo, after she surprisingly announced last month that she would not be seeking re-election.

Rumour had spread that former minister Justyne Caruana would step in to fill that void, after Abela said in an interview that she was a person that the Maltese political scene had lost, indicating that he was prepared to welcome her back with open arms.

Caruana hardly entertained the idea publicly and would not go further than offering her heartfelt thanks to Abela for his comments. Weeks later, the prospects of her return to politics are waning.

But Labour's need for a Gozitan candidate is not.

Sources close to the PL have repeatedly told Times of Malta the party cannot afford not to have a Gozitan candidate on its ballot because "Gozitans tend to vote for Gozitans".

Thomas Bajada would now step in as one of the new candidates who hope to garner at least a chunk of the votes of supporters who previously voted for Labour star candidates like Alfred Sant, Miriam Dalli and Josianne Cutajar, all of whom will not be on the MEP ballot this time round.

Bajada is the government's technical attaché on fisheries at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU. Photo: Thomas Bajada

Bajada holds a Master of Arts in Ocean Governance and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry, both from the University of Malta. He is currently pursuing a Master of Laws in Public International Law at City University of London.

Bajada also enjoys a public profile in Gozo, as he was deeply involved in the island's social and cultural life - having served as the Vice President and Secretary at the Soċjetà Filarmonika Leone and the Aurora Opera House.

He was also secretary general of the Maltese National Youth Council.

Before his current role, Bajada served as a policy coordinator in the Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Animal Rights in Malta.