Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544693
A bellwether district If there is a district where one can measure the PN's declining fortunes, it is Gozo—the on- ly district that has retained its territorial integrity in all post- war elections and the only one that switched from a clear PN majority to a PL majority. Since 2003, the PN has seen its support shrink from 60% to 44% (a 16pp drop), with La- bour gaining 14pp—reversing a 20pp gap in the PN's favour in 2003 into a 10-point lead in 2022. Moreover, while in 2003 the PN's lead was five times greater than its national lead, by 2022 the gap between the two parties in Gozo (10pp) was much closer to the PL's nation- al lead (13pp). These stats alone explain why Gozo is strategically important. Any hope of a PN recovery in the next election depends on a stronger performance in Gozo, in what was once a safe PN dis- trict and has now become Mal- ta's only toss-up district. Labour's descent to the margins Historically, before 2017, the PL had only clinched an absolute majority of votes in Gozo once—in 1955, when the 39-year-old Dom Mintoff snatched an absolute majority of Gozitan votes, electing three of five MPs. The result, however, was a fluke, followed by a collapse in Labour's vote. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL FRIDAY 1 MAY 2026 • ISSUE 094 • PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY gozotoday €1.00 CONTINUES PAGE 3 Gozo's red shift: Can Borg turn the tide? Malta and Gozo record sharp drop in poverty and social exclusion rates A significant decline has been re- corded in the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclu- sion in Malta ane Gozo, as well as those experiencing material and severe deprivation, according to new data released by the Nation- al Statistics Office. Figures show that the share of people facing material and social deprivation fell from 10% in 2024 to 8.5% in 2025, representing a decrease of around 6,000 individ- uals. Those in severe deprivation also declined, dropping from 5% to 3.7%, equivalent to 5,000 fewer people. CONTINUES PAGES 4-5 Once firmly Nationalist, Gozo has become steadily redder over the past decade. Can the PN's new Gozitan leader reverse the 'great decline' and turn the island into a toss- up? asks James Debono JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt LAURA CALLEJA lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt