Election History Bites | The first election

The first election to elect the legislative assembly took place in 1921, which is considered the year when parliament was born. It is the year that marked the start of self-government under British colonial rule. This year’s electoral appointment is the 26 election in 105 years.

Prior to this year, elections had been held since 1849 but they were to elect Maltese people to a representative body that also included appointees of the governor. In this sense, 1921 is considered to be a watershed moment since the 32-seat legislative assembly was entirely elected by Maltese voters—men aged 21 and over with property rights—and Malta also got its prime minister. Elections had to be held every three years and voters also elected 10 members to the senate, which also included seven other members representing special interest groups.

The Unione Politica Maltese led by Mgr Ignazio Panzavecchia, a priest, emerged as the largest political party in the 1921 election with 39.1% of the vote and 14 seats from 32. Subsequently, businessperson Joseph Howard, a senator, from the Unione Politica Maltese was appointed Malta’s first prime minister by Governor Lord Plumer since Panzavecchia could not accept the post. Howard led the first autonomous Maltese government until 1923 when he was succeeded by Francesco Buhagiar, also from the Unione Politica Maltese.

To be able to govern, the UPM first relied on the external support of the Labour Party and later formed a coalition with it, granting the PL two ministers in government.

The single transferable vote (STV) system still in use today was introduced in this election.

Election History Bites is a series of election-inspired stories that will be published from Monday to Friday every morning throughout the election campaign