As another election comes to a close, Malta has elected the six individuals who will be representing the country in the European Parliament over the next five years.

Roberta Metsola

First count votes: 87,473

Supporters swamped Roberta Metsola when she arrived in the counting hall.

Metsola’s re-election has long been a foregone conclusion, with the only question being whether she would manage to break Simon Busuttil’s 15-year-old record of first-count votes.

Now we know that she has, garnering more than 87,473 votes in Saturday’s election.

Metsola first stood for election in 2004, eventually finding her way into the European Parliament through a casual election in 2013 when Busuttil had made way to become PN deputy leader.

She saw a meteoric rise since, becoming the European Parliament’s first vice-president in 2020 and, two years later, being elected president.

Her term as president ends in July but she may well be going for a second term with a renewed mandate.

Alex Agius Saliba

First count votes: 63,899

Alex Agius Saliba greets Labour supporters after being elected. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Like Metsola, Agius Saliba was the runaway favourite amongst the candidates in his party, with his election not coming as a surprise.

This will be the 36-year-old’s second term as an MEP, having first been elected in 2019.

At the time, he was Labour’s third-choice candidate behind Miriam Dalli and Alfred Sant but took the lead in this election, with both Dalli and Sant sitting out the election.

Agius Saliba’s first term was marked by two key issues.

One was his spearheading a law forcing tech companies to adopt a single common charger for all electronic devices sold in the EU.

The other was his call on the EU to take action on abusive food monopolies that he claimed are harming consumers. This hit a speed bump when the European Commission retorted that the issue should be investigated by Malta’s consumer affairs authority, but time will tell whether Agius Saliba will take up this issue again over the next legislature.

David Casa 

First count votes: 3,683

David Casa, left, applauds Roberta Metsola in the counting hall. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Coasting in on Roberta Metsola’s twos to secure a seat, this will be David Casa’s fifth term in office and sees him retaining his status as Malta’s longest-serving MEP. He's been there for as long as Malta has held European Parliament elections.   

At the beginning of the 2019 legislature, Casa was elected to serve as one of the European Parliament’s quaestors, but he later stepped down to pave the way for Metsola to take on the role of European Parliament President. 

A fierce anti-corruption fighter, Casa also recently worked on setting up the EP’s social climate fund and piloting a work-life balance directive.

Daniel Attard

First count votes: 11,703

Brand new MEPs Daniel Attard, left and Thomas Bajada celebrate. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

A newcomer to the European scene, Attard was one of the most prominent faces throughout Labour’s election campaign.

Attard is a former Mtarfa mayor who stepped down in 2021 to take up a role as deputy high commissioner to the UK.

He has been a particularly vocal supporter of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, gaining a public endorsement from both Muscat himself and his wife Michelle.

Attard has also had a lot to say throughout the campaign about Europe’s defence policy, frequently warning against what he described as Europe’s growing militarisation.

Thomas Bajada 

First count votes: 10,792

A fresh face on the local political scene but no stranger to Brussels, Bajada, 29, made a surprise showing to pull through to a seat as the Labour Party’s only Gozitan candidate. 

With a turnout of 73.95% in Gozo, higher than any other district, it perhaps stands to reason that Gozitan voters may have given preference to a home-grown candidate over others, earning the technocrat a boost at the polls. 

With a background in science, Bajada currently serves as the government technical attaché on fisheries at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union in Brussels and for four years has represented Malta on the Council of the EU in negotiations related to aquaculture. 

But despite his strong ties to Brussels, Bajada remains highly active in the Gozitan social scene, having served on the board of the Soċjetà Filarmonika Leone and the Aurora Opera House in Victoria. 

While this is the first time he has stood for public office, Bajada has been politically active since his youth, forming part of the executive of the Labour-affiliated student group Pulse while at the University of Malta. He at one time also served as president of the National Youth Council. 

Peter Agius 

First count votes: 9,418

Peter Agius celebrating at the counting hall. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

It has been second time lucky for Peter Agius finally managing to gather enough votes to secure a seat in the European Parliament after he missed out in 2019. 

Trained as a lawyer, Agius previously headed the Office of the European Parliament in Malta and at one time worked as a speechwriter for former EU parliament president Antonio Tajani. 

With a strong background in EU affairs and the EU's legislative processes, Agius painted himself as the candidate poised to make the EU more accessible to citizens. 

He started his campaign early and championed a number of issues in recent months, including going head-to-head with Alex Agius Saliba on his claims about abusive food monopolies. He took a complaint by Ħal Farruġ residents over massive aviation fuel tanks close to their homes to the European Commission. 

But he recently also landed in hot water when he claimed that a sheep farm in Għajn Riħana was actually a villa built through EU funds, a statement that later turned out to be unsubstantiated.