Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544842
5 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 8 MAY 2026 NEWS THE 1947 election was the first after the restoration of self-rule under a new Constitution. The Labour Party under Paul Boffa emerged as the largest party by far in terms of votes and seats won in the 40-seat legislative as- sembly. But this election also has his- torical significance for Gozo, which constituted the 8th Dis- trict. All five elected members of the legislative assembly from the island were candidates of two newly-founded Gozo-based political parties—the Gozo Par- ty and the Jones Party. Collec- tively, these two regional parties obtained more than 85% of the vote on the island but this clean sweep was never repeated again and by 1951, even the notion of regional parties had fizzled away. The Gozo Party was set up in 1947 by lawyer Francesco Mas- ini and in the election held that year fielded seven candidates exclusively in Gozo. The party obtained 52.2% of the vote in Gozo, electing three members— Anton Calleja, Ġużeppi Cefai and Francesco Masini—to the legislative assembly. The highest polling candidate for the party on the first count was notary Ġużeppi Cauchi with 1,240 votes. However, Cauchi was surprisingly not elected since he did not inherit enough votes throughout the counting process and was surpassed by other candidates from his own party. The Gozo Party, which was instrumental in bringing down Boffa's government in 1950, dis- banded that same year without contesting the ensuing elections. The Jones Party was set up in 1945 by businessman Henry Jones—he named the party af- ter him. Jones had been elected as an independent candidate in the 1945 election for the Council of Government. The new party sought to promote agricultural and fishing co-operatives and opposed the dominance of Mal- ta. The 1947 election was the first for the Jones Party. It fielded five candidates in Gozo, obtaining 33% of the vote on the district and electing two members to the legislative assembly—Henry Jones and Francesco Camilleri, a farmer and baker. Jones was the highest-scoring candidate across all political parties on the 8th District, obtaining 3,378 first-count votes. The party also fielded three candidates on the 4th District in Malta, although their performance was dismal. But the success was short-lived and the Jones Party lost both seats in the 1950 election, de- spite the popularity of its leader. The party fielded five candidates in Gozo but saw its vote on the district collapse to 8%. In the 1951 election, the party fielded just two candidates in Gozo, ob- taining 8.6% of the district vote and electing no one. The party disbanded after this election. However, Henry Jones contin- ued to contest elections in Gozo with different parties in the fol- lowing years. In the 1953 elec- tion he was a candidate for the Malta Workers Party but failed to get elected. In the 1955 elec- tion, Jones contested with the Nationalist Party and was elect- ed after a casual election follow- ing the resignation of PN MP Carmelo Refalo in 1956. Jones unsuccessfully contested his last election in 1962 as a candidate for the newly-formed Demo- cratic Christian Party. Election History Bites pow- ered by Agenda Bookshop is a series of election-inspired stories that will be published from Monday to Friday every morning throughout the elec- tion campaign Gozo's regional parties ELECTION HISTORY BITES KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt On one occasion, the Gozo district was represented in parliament entirely by MPs from two Gozitan regional parties—the Gozo Party led by Francesco Masini (left) and the Jones Party led by Henry Jones (right) Gozo begins installation of first bike racks under sustainable mobility initiative THE Gozo Regional Develop- ment Authority said the first bike racks under its recently launched initiative are now be- ing installed across the islands. In a social media post, the authority said the works are being carried out by the Metal Works Department within the Ministry for Gozo and Plan- ning. The authority said the project is aimed at promoting sustain- able mobility and encouraging more people to choose cleaner and healthier modes of trans- port. It added that the installation of the bike racks marks the be- ginning of the initiative's im- pact taking shape across Gozo and Malta. The authority said the project is aimed at promoting sustainable mobility and encouraging more people to choose cleaner and healthier modes of transport