Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1462258
10 NEWS maltatoday | TUESDAY • 22 MARCH 2022 Election 2022, district by district James Debono gives his breakdown of the main races on each electoral district in this year's election (Part 1) The first district: A mirror of the nation? THE first district, which historically stood out as the most evenly split of the southern districts, includes Valletta, Flo- riana, Ħamrun, Marsa, Pietà and Guarda- manġia, and Santa Venera. The PN last won a majority in this dis- trict in 2003, when the party won 52% of the vote share, which mirrored the share of the party's national support. But by 2008 the district was tightly con- tested with Labour winning 50% against the PN's 49%, a margin which also re- flected a national trend which saw the PN edging through with 1,500 votes. But in a reflection of the national trend in 2013, Labour won 55% of votes in this district. Five years later Labour's advantage in this district increased with the PN's share decreasing to just 42% of the vote. Third parties have never left a mark on this district. Even in 2013 when AD snatched its best general elec- tion result on a national level (1.8%), the party only polled 1.2%. Labour's three incumbents will also have MP Andy Ellul contesting, who was recently co-opted to parliament by Robert Abela, and is another dark horse on the district. Absent this time around is former Labour MP Silvio Parnis who although not elected from this district, had grabbed 1,385 first count votes in 2017. Aaron Farrugia is contesting on two districts and may get elected on both, which means he would make way for someone to be elected through a casual election. As for the PN, Mario de Marco was the lead candidate elected, followed by Claudio Grech, who will not be contest- ing this time around. One notable addition to the Labour ticket in this district is Pietà Mayor Keith Azzopardi Tanti. The candidate made news after his candidature was endorsed by former party leader Joseph Muscat. Since Labour is unlikely to elect more than three candidates, Tanti may replace a sitting MP. But another female Labour MP could be elected through the corrective mechanism: first-time candidate Cressida Galea, who has been schooled in Labour's 'Lead' programme and could be one of the candidates to watch, along with Davina Sammut Hili. The major unknown in the PN is which candidate will take the largest share of Claudio Grech's 2,606 first-count votes. When announcing his decision to con- test Grech made it a point to anoint new candidate Christian Micallef, a former mayor of Valletta and sports TV host. Mario de Marco, who has been re- turned to the House in all elections since 2003, still starts as a favourite even if he was recently sidelined in rep- resenting the party on financial issues. Paula Mifsud Bonnici, who was elected in both 2013 and 2017 and has served in party structures over the last legisla- ture, is also a strong PN candidate. Second district – Labour's fortress THE district which Labour has consist- ently won in all post-WWII elections in- cludes Vittoriosa, Cospicua and Senglea as well as neighbouring Kalkara, Żabbar and Fgura. As has happened in most elections, Labour is expected to elect four out of five candidates on the district. In 2017, Labour won a massive 71% of the dis- trict's votes up from 67% in 2008. The PN's share declined from 32% in 2008 to 28% in 2017. In 2017, the district was dominated by Joseph Muscat who secured a whop- ping 14,674 first-count votes. He was followed by Helena Dalli, Glenn Bed- ingfield, Joe Mizzi and Chris Agius. The Nationalists only managed to elect Stephen Spiteri, who is expected to be returned to parliament as the PN's sole representative. Since Robert Abela is now contesting this district, one major question will be whether he will get the same amount of votes as his predecessor. Helena Dalli had won 650 first-count votes and inherited the largest share of Muscat's second preferences, but she is now serving as an EU commissioner and will not be contesting. Labour's ticket on this district now in- cludes ministers Byron Camilleri, Car- melo Abela and Clyde Caruana. Also contesting are sitting MPs Glenn Bed- ingfield, Chris Agius, Oliver Scicluna and Joe Mizzi. As finance minister and one of Abe- la's most trusted aides, having served as Chief of Staff before becoming minister, former Zabbar mayor Clyde Caruana may be a favourite for Abela's votes. But he will have to compete for them with Abela's own sister-in-law Alison Zerafa Civelli, the mayor of Cospicua. Labour whip Glenn Bedingfield, who was also recently endorsed by Joseph Muscat and has a reputation as a par- ty hawk, may also perform well in this deep red district. Elected in 2017 on the first district: (Left to right, from top) Jose Herrera, Aaron Farrugia, Deo Debattista (PL); Mario De Marco, Claudio Grech (PN) Elected in 2017 on the second district: (Left to right, from top) Joseph Muscat, Helena Dalli, Joe Mizzi, Chris Agius (PL); Stephen Spiteri (PN) – Casual election: Glenn Bedingfield (PL)