2003 Gibraltar general election

General elections were held in Gibraltar on 28 November 2003. They were won by Peter Caruana's Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), who received over 50% of the popular vote and won eight of the 15 elected seats, making this their third successive win.

2003 Gibraltar general election

← 2000 28 November 2003 2007 →
15 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly 8 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Peter Caruana Joe Bossano (GSLP) Party Social Democrats Alliance Last election 58.35%, 8 seats 40.57%, 7 seats Seats won 8 7 Seat change Popular vote 58,234 44,920 Percentage 51.45% 39.69% Swing 6.90pp 0.88pp
Chief Minister before election Peter Caruana Social Democrats Elected Chief Minister Peter Caruana Social Democrats

Coalitions

A coalition was formed between the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) and Liberal Party of Gibraltar (GLP) called the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in order to combat the GSD. The Alliance was led by Joe Bossano.^[1][2]

Party platforms

GSD

The GSD had its main focus on international relations, improvement of housing, improvement of infrastructure, and improvement of social services. They also stated that they were working towards making Gibraltar something the people could be proud of again.^[3]

GLSP-Liberal Alliance

The Alliance sought to counter the GSD party and, according to their 2003 manifesto, to improve housing, education, social affairs, services for senior citizens, medical services, employment, the general economy, businesses, tourism, transport, foreign affairs, services for the youth, services for sports, and the environment. They hoped to achieve those goals by the 2007 general election.^[4]

Legend

Party or alliance		Slogan
	GSD	"Security, Stability, Prosperity"
	GSLP/Libs Alliance	"Our Contract with Gibraltar"
	GLP
	Lyana Armstrong-Emery (RG)
	Maurice Xiberras

Incumbent MPs

Incumbent Members of Parliament from the 2000 election:

MP		Party	Seeking re-election?	Parliamentary role(s)
	Peter Caruana (since 1991)[a]	GSD	Yes	Chief Minister (since 1996)
	Bernard Linares (since 1996)	GSD	Yes	Minister for Education, Training, Culture and Health
	Keith Azopardi (since 1996)	GSD	No	Minister for Trade, Industry and Telecommunications (2000–2003)
	Joseph Holliday (since 1996)	GSD	Yes	Minister for Employment & Training and Buildings & Works
	Ernest Britto (since 1996)	GSD	Yes	Minister for Public Services, the Environment, Sports and Leisure (February–September 2000) Minister for Public Services, the Environment, Sport and Youth (2000–2003)
	Hubert Corby (since 1996)	GSD	No	Minister for Employment and Consumer Affairs (2000–2003)
	Jaime Netto (since 1996)	GSD	Yes	Minister for Housing
	Yvette Del Agua (since 2000)	GSD	Yes	Minister for Social Affairs
	Joe Bossano (since 1972)	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	Yes	Leader of the Opposition (since 1996)
	Joseph Garcia (since 1999)[b]	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG)	Yes	Shadow Minister
	Joseph Baldachino (since 1984)	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	No	Shadow Minister
	Maria Montegriffo (since 1984)	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	Yes	Shadow Minister
	Reginald Valarino (1976–1988, since 2000)	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	No	Shadow Minister
	Juan Carlos Perez (since 1988)	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	No	Shadow Minister
	Steven Linares (since 2000)	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG)	Yes	Shadow Minister

Results

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Gibraltar Social Democrats			58,234	51.45	8	0
	Alliance		Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party	28,382	25.08	5	–2
			Liberal Party of Gibraltar	16,538	14.61	2	New
		Total		44,920	39.69	7	0
	Gibraltar Labour Party			9,445	8.35	0	New
	Reform Party			578	0.51	0	New
Ex officio members						2	–
Total				113,177	100.00	17	0
Total votes				14,610	–
Registered voters/turnout				18,452	79.18
Source: Parliament, Parliament

By candidate

Candidate[5]		Party	Votes	Notes
	Peter Caruana	GSD	7998	Elected
	Joseph Holliday	GSD	7398	Elected
	Bernard Linares	GSD	7301	Elected
	Ernest Britto	GSD	7275	Elected
	James Netto	GSD	7117	Elected
	Fabian Vinet	GSD	7105	Elected
	Clive Beltran	GSD	7037	Elected
	Yvette Del Agua	GSD	7003	Elected
	Joseph Bossano	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	6220	Elected
	Joseph Garcia	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG)	5798	Elected
	Fabian Picardo	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	5785	Elected
	Charles Bruzon	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	5584	Elected
	Steven Linares	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (LPG)	5554	Elected
	Maria Montegriffo	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	5465	Elected
	Lucio Randall	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	5328	Elected
	Steven Marin	GSLP–Liberal Alliance (GSLP)	5168	Not Elected
N	Daniel Feetham	GLP	2171	Not Elected
	Maurice Xiberras	Independent	1395	Not Elected
	Charles Bishop	GLP	1125	Not Elected
	Christian Montegriffo	GLP	1034	Not Elected
	Joseph Bishop	GLP	1026	Not Elected
	William Pisani	GLP	920	Not Elected
	Kim Karnani Santos	GLP	908	Not Elected
	Louise Gillingwater Pederson	GLP	866	Not Elected
	Lyana Armstrong-Emery	RP	578	Not Elected

Notes

1. Elected in 1991 by-election after the resignation of former AACR MP and Founder and first GSD Leader, Peter Montegriffo. He had beaten his opponent, AACR's Douglas Henrich (2496 vs 1542 votes).
2. Elected in 1999 by-election after the death of elected GSLP MP and Shadow Minister & former Mayor of Gibraltar, Robert Mor