Update 4.15pm 

Jason Micallef is "seriously considering" contesting the post of Labour deputy leader for party affairs.

On Thursday Micallef told Times of Malta he was “overwhelmed by the number of people, including party stalwarts, who reached out", asking him to "help out".  

"I simply cannot ignore this call from party delegates, members of parliament and ministers.”

Micallef said June’s European Parliament elections’ result showed the party has "to work on its coherence and energy”.

“The party needs to bring back the ideas and the energy it had in the early days in government. 

“It should keep setting the agenda, giving birth to new ideas that are then pushed for the consideration of the party's national executive, the parliamentary group and eventually cabinet.”

Micallef, who holds the chairmanship of the Valletta Cultural Agency, was recently critical of the way the party had lost touch with the electorate. Apart from his social media posts, Micallef even called for the renewal of the Labour Party during interviews on private TV channels.

Micallef said the party's structures needed to undergo a “revolution”.

He said the last significant renewal in the Labour Party took place after the 2008 election - 16 years ago.  

At the time, a new leader and two new deputy leaders were elected.

Micallef told Times of Malta the Labour Party should seriously consider the re-introduction of the role of Secretary General - an elected office.

“It may not be possible to do all of this come September, during the general conference, however, the party definitely needs a Secretary General.”

Micallef had occupied this same post between 2003 and 2009.

Newly-elected MEP Daniel Attard is among those who publicly supported Micallef.

He resorted to Facebook to declare he considered “his credentials suitable - if not the best - for the role of deputy leader".

Micallef has already declared his support for Ian Borg to contest the post for deputy leader for parliamentary affairs.

Borg is being touted as the frontrunner to succeed Chris Fearne.

The post of deputy leader for party affairs is currently occupied by Daniel Micallef, who last June announced he would not be seeking re-election, just days after the European Parliament elections in which the Labour Party saw its majority dwindle by tens of thousands of votes.  In those elections, the party also lost the fourth seat in the EP.

'The next deputy leader should be a woman'

Claudette Abela Baldacchino says she will do whatever is in the interest of the party.

However Micallef does not have universal support.

Claudette Abela Baldacchino believes that the next deputy leader for party affairs should be a woman.

Contacted by Times of Malta on whether she was considering running for the post, the former MEP would only say “I have years of experience in the party’s structures and at this stage I will do what is in the best interest of the party.”

Abela Baldacchino has been active in the Labour Party ranks since the 1980s.   She occupied roles at committee level in Qrendi, was elected to her hometown’s local council and served as international secretary and president of Nisa Laburisti, the women’s branch of the party.

She also served on the EU’s Committee of the Regions and was vice president of the Association of Local Councillors.

The Labour Party's General Conference is set to take place in mid-September.