Labour down in all districts as PN gains 13,500 votes – biggest swing in Gozo

While the Labour Party is celebrating its fourth electoral victory in the past 13 years, there is a genuine sense of frustration within its circles as the actual vote count clearly shows that the Nationalist Party has begun its revival.

An analysis of the results shows that, when compared to four years ago, Labour has lost traction in all 13 electoral districts, particularly in districts that have traditionally been regarded as Labour strongholds.

At the same time, voters registered a substantial swing in favour of the PN, a trend that had been completely absent during the 13 years since the Nationalist Party was relegated to opposition.

A district-by-district comparison between the 2022 and 2026 results shows that the PN performed best in Gozo, most probably since the young PN leader is a native of the island and enjoys considerable popularity among Gozitan voters.

The 5.4-point swing in favour of the PN in the 13th electoral district becomes even more significant when considering that Gozo has long been regarded as one of Labour’s most heavily targeted electoral battlegrounds.

The scale of the swing is particularly striking given Labour’s extensive use of the advantages of incumbency in Gozo, where government employment, direct orders, planning permits, social housing allocations, public contracts and various forms of state assistance featured prominently in the last few years and were used to the fullest during the last campaign.

Despite these blatant irregularities, the PN still managed to register its strongest gains on the island.

Traditionally a Nationalist district, Labour had managed to secure an impressive 53.5 per cent of the vote in Gozo in 2022. Four years later, that dominance has been significantly reduced, with the PN emerging as the most popular party on the island.

Nationally, Labour suffered a 3.4-point decline in support since 2022, resulting in a loss of around 4,300 votes. The downturn represents the party’s first notable electoral setback since returning to power in 2013 and suggests that Labour’s electoral dominance may no longer be as secure as many within the party had assumed.

On the other hand, the PN increased its vote share by almost three percentage points, resulting in an increase of approximately 13,500 votes. The result marks the party’s strongest electoral recovery in more than a decade and provides tangible evidence that the PN is once again becoming competitive across the country.

Overall, the results show that while Labour and Robert Abela appear to be on a downward trajectory and are becoming less popular than they were in the last 13 years, the PN and its new leader are steadily gaining significant ground.

The trend is likely to increase optimism among the segment of the electorate that hopes the beginning of the end of Labour’s long period of political dominance may be closer, and perhaps arrive more rapidly, than many had previously imagined.