Election History Bites | Most voted candidates

Dom Mintoff, Joseph Muscat and Eddie Fenech Adami are undoubtedly the most successful candidates of all time, sharing the top 10 spots between them.

On a singular basis, Mintoff holds the record but when considering that Muscat only contested two general elections and all four of his candidacies—two in each election—rank among the top 10, he could easily be crowned the overall champion.

This exercise is based on the model adopted by American professor John C. Lane, whose data collection on Malta’s general elections forms the basis of the Malta Elections website held by the University of Malta. To be able to compare candidates’ strength across different elections since 1921, the number of votes obtained on the first count is calculated as a percentage share of the district quota.

Dom Mintoff’s showing on the 2nd District in the 1981 general election places him as the most successful candidate ever. Mintoff obtained 367.72% of the quota, beating his previous record of 310.25% obtained in the 1976 election also on the 2nd District. The latter feat ranks ninth in the overall results. The 1981 election was the last one that Mintoff contested as party leader and came two years after his crowning achievement—the closure of the British military base in Malta in 1979, otherwise known as Freedom Day.

Joseph Muscat ranks second with 364.89% of the 2nd District quota obtained in the 2013 general election. This was his first election as party leader, which, at the age of 39, saw him become the youngest prime minister since independence. Muscat also holds third place with a quota share of 361.25% obtained on the 2nd District in the 2017 general election, which was also his last.

Eddie Fenech Adami ranks fourth with a quota share of 336.19% obtained on the 8th District in the 1987 election that saw him become prime minister for the first time.

Muscat takes fifth place with 332.97% of the quota share on the 5th District in the 2017 election, while Fenech Adami comes in sixth with 322.6% on the 8th District in the 1998 election.

Muscat’s performance on the 4th District in the 2013 election puts him in seventh place with 319.26% of the quota.

Fenech Adami’s 2003 performance (318.88%) on the 8th District clinches him the eighth place on the rankings, followed by Mintoff’s 1976 performance on the 2nd District.

Fenech Adami scrapes into tenth place with his 1981 performance (308.06%) on the 8th District, his first as party leader.

Incumbent prime minister, Robert Abela makes it to eleventh place with his 2022 election performance (307.49%) on the 2nd District. This was the first election Abela contested as party leader. No other performances since 1921 have hit above the 300% quota mark.

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