Adrian Delia’s gamble to cling on to power in the hope of being rescued by party members has backfired spectacularly as they delivered his heaviest defeat since he lost the confidence of his own MPs in July.

Such conclusion rips into the belief among the Delia camp as well as the Labour Party that the election had been triggered by the so-called Nationalist Party establishment, who wanted to ‘retain’ control of the party.

The results reflected the feeling that as long as Delia remained at the helm, the PN would not be electable, and it was most palpable among the grassroots.

In Saturday’s election, Delia only garnered 30.7% of the votes, a percentage that is significantly lower than the 39% support he had in the parliamentary group where 17 out of the 28 members called for his resignation.

Moreover, the margin of defeat in the leadership election was heavier than the confidence vote he had lost in the executive committee where had obtained the support of 42.2%, and the general council where 43.6% had supported his call for a one-horse race.

A closer analysis of the result indicates that Delia not only failed to retain the support he had in 2017 when he had obtained 7,734 votes but was also not able to make any inroads among those who voted in the election for the first time.

Though the number of valid votes increased by 3,619 when compared to the 2017 leadership election, Delia obtained 2,112 fewer preferences. Overall, this resulted in a 22% swing against him to the point that he obtained less than half the votes obtained by rival Bernard Grech.

Nonetheless, Grech has a daunting task to bring the party back in business in time for the next general election, which could be months away. His first mission will be to bring back to the fold the hundreds of Delia supporters who within minutes of Saturday’s result turned to social media to claim they would be leaving the party.

This task will largely depend on the political future of outgoing leader Adrian Delia, and his two deputies David Agius and Robert Arrigo who supported him to the end. Any escalation of tension between Grech and the MPs who supported the outgoing leader will only result in further wounds.

Leadership has become a revolving door

Grech's election also means that the PN will have its fourth leader in just 16 years since Lawrence Gonzi succeeded Eddie Fenech Adami in 2004. In comparison, the four previous PN leaders had spanned over almost 80 years, starting from Sir Ugo Mifsud in 1924, who was followed by Nerik Mizzi, George Borg Olivier and Fenech Adami.

Political leaders nowadays need to hit the ground running from day one to avoid calls to head to the exit door.

In Grech’s case, the clock is already ticking fast as failure to make any inroads in the next general election will not bode well for his political future.