Gibraltar Parliament

Gibraltar Parliament
1st Gibraltar Parliament
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Haresh K. Budhrani, QC, (Non-affiliated) since 11 October 2007
Leader of The House	Fabian Picardo, (Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party) since 9 December 2011
Structure
Members	17 Members of Parliament (MPs)
Political groups	Gibraltar Social Democrats, Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party, Gibraltar Liberal Party
Elections
Last election	8 December 2011
Meeting place
Parliament Building, John Mackintosh Square, Gibraltar
Website
Gibraltar.gov.gi

Gibraltar

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Gibraltar

Government Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II The Crown Governor Sir Adrian Johns Chief Minister Fabian Picardo Parliament Speaker Haresh K. Budhrani Law Law of Gibraltar Court system Constitution of Gibraltar Constitution Order 1969 Constitution Order 2006 Elections Elections Political parties Politicians Last election Other Disputed status of Gibraltar Sovereignty referendum, 1967 Sovereignty referendum, 2002 Disputed status of the isthmus History of nationality Gibraltar passport Gibraltar identity card

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The Gibraltar Parliament is the legislature of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Between 1969 and 2006 it was called the Gibraltar House of Assembly.

Functions

The House of Assembly, set up under the 1969 constitution, was a unicameral body originially consisting of 15 members elected by the Gibraltar electorate, plus two appointed members including the Attorney-General. The term "House of Assembly" has been commonly used for the legislatures of British territories that are less than fully sovereign. It was replaced by the current Gibraltar Parliament by the new 2006 constitution, reflecting an increase in its sovreignty. All 17 of the new Parliament's members are elected.

Under the election system, each voter was allowed to vote for eight members of the Assembly. Due to the small area of Gibraltar and its territorial continuity, precincts served only as polling places, not political units, and there are no electoral districts served by the members, who were instead elected "at large" to serve the territory as a whole.

The system lends itself to block voting – each of the parties or electoral coalitions tended to nominate a slate of eight candidates and encourage its supporters to vote for all of them. In most cases, the winning party would have all eight of its nominees elected, with the other seven elected members coming from the second-place party.

Parliament Building

The Parliament sits in a building overlooking Main Street and John Mackintosh Square. It was constructed in 1817 and previously served as the Exchange and Commercial Library. In 1951, the building was refurbished to host the Legislative Council. Under the 1969 Constitution, the House of Assembly was established, superseding the Legislative Council. The first session of the House of Assembly, was opened on 28 August 1969 by the then Governor Admiral Varyl Begg

Current membership

The 17 Members of the second Gibraltar Parliament as at 09 December 2011, ordered alphabetically, are:

• Balban, Paul John (GSLP)
• Bossano, Joseph John (GSLP)
• Bossino, Damon James (GSD)
• Bruzon, Charles Arthur (GSLP)
• Caruana, Peter Richard (GSD)
• Cortes, John Emmanuel (GSLP)
• Costa, Neil Francis (GLP)
• Elluk-Hammond, Isobel Marie (GSD)
• Feetham, Daniel Anthony (GSD)
• Figueras, Selwyn Matthew (GSD)
• Garcia, Joseph John (GLP)
• Licudi, Gilbert Horace (GSLP)
• Linares, Steven Ernest (GLP)
• Netto, James Joseph (GSD)
• Picardo, Fabian Raymond (GSLP)
• Reyes, Edwin Joseph (GSD)
• Sacramento, Samantha Jane (GSLP)

Latest election

 Summary of the 8 December 2011 Gibraltar Parliament election results

Parties1		Votes2	%	Seats
Alliance	Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party	59,824	34.23	7
	Gibraltar Liberal Party	25,590	14.65	3
Gibraltar Social Democrats		81,721	46.76	7
Progressive Democratic Party		7,622	4.36	—
Total (turnout 81.4%)		174,757	100.00	17
Source: Government of Gibraltar 1 These figures have been consolidated by party. Under the Gibraltar electoral system, all candidates are listed on the ballot paper individually. 2 Every voter has up to 10 votes to vote for their choice from all the candidates standing. Accordingly although there are more seats available, the main parties field 10 candidates and hope to secure 'block votes'. Thus the total of 174,757 votes comes from 21,712 voters, an 81.4% turnout of the electorate.

See also

• Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006
• Gibraltarian constitutional referendum, 2006
• List of Speakers of the Gibraltar Parliament

External links

• Gibraltar Parliament page (official)