Labour reaches new high with 47,000 vote majority in local council elections

Labour has achieved a 47,000 vote majority over an outshined and eclipsed Nationalist Party in the local council elections. 58% of the vote went the way of Labour. This amounts to 268 Labour councillors (via 158,514 votes), 192 PN councillors (via 103,398 votes) and four independents (garnering 5,762 votes).

Muscat said as much on a ONE TV telephone interview after vote counting had been finalised and said that Labour had finally broken Paul Boffa's 44,104 vote margin record.

"We thought we broke the record last time," Muscat said, referring to the MEP elections. "We broke it today. The marginal localities did well, the Labour strongholds wre consolidated and we've had some symbolic victories, such as the clinching of Valletta," he said.

The Labour Party dominated proceedings yet again in the third and final night of vote counting for the local council elections, pilfering coveted Mosta from the Nationalist Party and winning Siggiewi for the first time in election history. 

PL also retained its strongholds with strong majorities, including Isla, Birgu, Kirkop, Safi, Luqa, Hamrun, and Qormi.

Most significantly, Labour took five significant localities away from the PN—Valletta, Siggiewi, Mosta, St Paul's Bay and San Gwann—while it continued to make in-roads in Gozo as both Zebbug and Gharb were deadlocked. Munxar was the only locality, also in Gozo, that was taken back by the PN. 

This means that PN has won only 19 out of the 67 local councils across Malta and Gozo, not even a third of the total. 

PN won six (Ghajnsielem, Balzan, Nadur, Ghasri, Iklin and San Giljan) on Wednesday's session in Naxxar, four (Lija, Rabat, Imgarr, Sliema) on Thursday and seven (Gharghur, Attard, Swieqi, San Lawrenz, Kercem, Munxar) on Friday, all of which are typically PN bastions.

Labour has written history twice, first on the inaugural day of vote counting when Alfred Zammit was elected the first Labour mayor of the capital and then on the closing night when Siggiewi elected its first Labour mayor Kurstein Sant. 

As a result, Labour now holds a total of 47 local councils, two in Gozo are deadlocked and whoever is to lead is to be decided in the coming weeks, and PN keeps a paltry and flimsy hold on its very loyal localities, reducing the party to having a very regional bearing. 

Women candidates have had an improved showing during these elections. In Mosta, Floriana and Santa Lucija, three women candidates, Romilda Baldacchino Zarb, Davina Sammut Hili and Charmaine St John took mayorship of the respective localities.