Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manché, who resigned from the Labour Party last year is to run as an independent candidate in the European Parliament elections.

He said his submission, two hours before the deadline, was a "slap to partisan politics". He will also run again for the local council elections.

The outspoken mayor clashed with his party on environmental issues, and last October handed in his resignation letter to the Labour Party, stating it was “probably the most important decision” of his life. 

"Many people know that the issues I speak about are not just affecting the locality, but the whole country," Borg Manché told Times of Malta. 

"I talk about topics such as planning and family issues. These are not just topics that affect Gżira, but the whole island, and many people have been encouraging me to stand as an MEP candidate. So here I am, stirring some trouble."

He said his nomination for MEPs is also a "slap to partisan politics". 

"Now we will see if people will follow suit. Many say they are tired of corrupt politicians, so now we will see if they vote for politicians like me."

Borg Manché, who has served as Gżira mayor for nine years, had a major fallout with the Labour Party last year, when he accused the party of betraying its socialist principles over plans to turn part of a public garden into a petrol station. 

He had lambasted party president Ramona Attard for fronting a court case on behalf of the Lands Authority to push the Gżira council to accept plans to move a petrol station to the site of a public garden, decreasing the garden in size by almost 1,000 square metres. 

The council eventually won the court battle to stop the relocation of the fuel station.