Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545062
DISTRICT 1: FROM TOSS UP TO LABOUR SOLID With the average age of Maltese residents exceeding 45 in Valletta, Floriana, Ħamrun, Marsa, and Pi- età, this district is one of the old- est. The district has also seen an influx of migrants in recent years, likely attracted by lower rents. Ħamrun today hosts a growing number of migrant-owned shops and restaurants. The area is also under pressure from overdevelop- ment and over-tourism. Valletta—whose population has fallen by around 10% since 2013— has seen increasing commercial- isation of public spaces as res- taurants expand into pavements, squares, and historic streets. Floriana's council has raised con- cerns over continued conversions of historic homes into boutique hotels, offices, and tourist accom- modation, alongside a broader demographic decline. Plans to re- generate the Grand Harbour, par- ticularly in Marsa, have featured in electoral manifestos for two decades and this year's election is no exception but questions re- main on how this will impact local communities. The ageing population has al- so driven readjustments to the districts' boundaries. Ahead of the 2017 election, the Electoral Commission fully integrated the younger Santa Venera into Dis- trict 1, and in 2025 added a signif- icant part of Birkirkara, including Fleur-de-Lys. Amidst these changes, Labour's support rose from 48% in 2003 to 60.1% in 2022. However, the PL lost 819 votes between 2017 and 2022, while the PN lost 1,980, sug- gesting turnout decline (from 92% to 86%) hit the Nationalists hard- er, and leaving room for recovery if abstention voters return. Overall, District 1 has shifted from a bellwether in 2008 to a sta- ble Labour majority. In 2022, third parties also surpassed 2% for the first time since 2003. In the up- coming election, the PL will field 12 candidates, including two jun- ior ministers—Glenn Bedingfield and Keith Azzopardi Tanti. The PN will field six candidates, in- cluding Deputy Leader Alex Perici Calascione. Due to district changes both parties are fielding candidates from Birkirkara and Santa Ven- era including Justin Schembri and Darren Carabott in the PN and Yana Borg Debono Grech in the PL. ADPD, Momentum, Aħwa Maltin, and Imperium Europa will each field a candidate. DISTRICT 2: AGEING CORE TESTS LABOUR'S GRIP IN STRONGHOLDS The district includes the ageing Cottonera towns, where the av- erage age surpasses 45, but it also includes younger localities such as Xgħajra, where the average age is just over 37. Three major, contrasting shifts are reshaping the district: Acceler- ated ageing inside the inner-har- bour historic core and sprawling population growth along the out- er edges. The district also attracts two types of foreign nationals; for- eign workers in Żabbar and Fgura, and more permanent residents buying property in the historical cores. Higher property acquisition costs, driven by gentrification and boutique hotel conversions, have pushed young locals to relocate further inland or to the south-east. Birgu, Isla, and Bormla now reg- ister the highest state expenditure per capita on old-age and social protection benefits in the country. Development pressures have also started hitting Labour's core district. Over the past few years, Żabbar has seen its Labour-led council at the forefront of battles against planning permits for vertical de- velopment in the locality's his- torical core. The council has also successfully opposed the con- struction of an old people's home in the ODZ. Tourism pressures are also in- creasingly felt in the old centres. Despite the new shore-to-ship electricity grid, a number of cruise liners still have not been retro- fitted to plug into the grid while berthed, releasing toxic emissions that linger directly over the dense- ly populated Second District com- munities. Housing remains an issue and an affordable housing project in Bormla ground to a halt due to financial gridlocks involving state investment firm Malita Invest- ments. To make up for the shrinking population in the older towns, the Electoral Commission redrew the lines to absorb Fgura's main resi- dential zones into District 2. This shifted the district's demographic 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MAY 2026 NEWS ELECTION 2026 Localities Average age Valletta 48.1 Floriana 50.5 Ħamrun 47.2 Marsa 46.7 Pietà 46.4 Santa Venera 42.3 Birkirkara (part of) NA Fleur-De-Lys, Birkirkara NA District 1: Towns and age Note: The average age is that of Maltese residents only. Source: NSO Year PL PN Others Turnout 2003 47.6% 51.8% 0.6% 95.5% 2008 49.2% 48.8% 1.9% 93% 2013 54.9% 43.9% 1.2% 92.7% 2017 57.2% 41.7% 1.1% 91.9% 2022 60.1% 37.6% 2.4% 85.9% District 1: General election results Source: Electoral Commission Locality Average age Birgu 49.8 Isla 47.7 Bormla 45.6 Żabbar 41.2 Kalkara 43.9 Xgħajra 37.3 Marsaskala (part of) NA St Peter's, Żabbar NA Fgura (part of) NA District 2: Towns and age Note: The average age is that of Maltese residents only. Source: NSO How demographics are reshaping In a five-part series James Debono explores how Malta's shifting age profiles, urbanisation patterns and internal 1. 2.