Daniel Anthony Feetham KC MP is a Gibraltarian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

who served as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and Leader of the

Gibraltar Social Democrats The Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) is a liberal-conservative, centre-right political party in Gibraltar. The GSD was the governing party for four successive terms in office under the leadership of Peter Caruana, from the 1996 general elect ...

(GSD) from 2013 to 2017.

Political career

Mr Feetham was one of the founders of the

Gibraltar Labour Party The Gibraltar Labour Party was a political party in Gibraltar. They described themselves as a progressive socialist organisation and stated that their formation was prompted by the need for a strong opposition to the government. They were fou ...

in 2001. The Gibraltar Labour Party has since merged with the

. He obtained a history degree from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

and a law degree from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

. He is a barrister in England and Gibraltar and a Member of the Gibraltar Parliament. From 2004 to 2006 he was a member of the Gibraltar delegation that negotiated a new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

with the UK and co-ordinated the yes vote campaign in the referendum on the new Constitution in 2006. The new Constitution was adopted in Gibraltar in 2007. He served as Gibraltar's first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

from 2007-2011. In the 2011 general election the GSD was defeated by a very narrow margin but Mr Feetham was elected to Parliament 52 votes behind the then leader Peter Caruana. Mr Feetham became deputy leader of the GSD in 2012 and in February 2013 he was elected as leader of the GSD and became Leader of the Opposition until June 2017 when he stepped aside for family reasons. On 2 November 2010, Mr Feetham was stabbed in the back while out walking in Library Street with his children. Police arrested the attacker while the Minister underwent emergency surgery in

St. Bernard's Hospital St Bernard's Hospital is the only civilian general hospital in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. History Juan Mateos In 1567, during Gibraltar's Spanish period, a retired Spanish innkeeper by the name of Juan Mateos converted hi ...

. His attacker was on bail at the time on charges of attempted murder of a doctor at St Bernard's Hospital and stabbed Mr Feetham because he had been declined, by a judge, legal aid to retain an English QC to represent him rather than having local representation. The knife attack cut his spleen in half which had to be removed. Despite the serious nature of the attack Mr Feetham survived. The attacker is serving a life sentence. Daniel Feetham was appointed one of Her Majesty's Counsel in December 2016.

Elections

In 2003, he contested the General Election as leader of the Gibraltar Labour Party. In 2007, he contested the General Election as a candidate for the Gibraltar Social Democrats. He was elected as an MP and as Minister for Justice. In 2013, he contested the leadership of the GSD after

Peter Caruana Sir Peter Richard Caruana, (born 15 October 1956) is a Gibraltarian people, Gibraltarian former politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from Elections in Gibraltar#1996 election, 1996 to 2011 Gibraltar general election, 2011 and Lea ...

stood down. He beat his opponent Damon Bossino and was elected GSD Leader and subsequently as Leader of the Opposition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feetham, Daniel Living people 21st-century Gibraltarian lawyers Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party politicians Gibraltar Labour Party politicians Gibraltar Social Democrats politicians Justice ministers of Gibraltar Year of birth missing (living people)

Political career

Elections

See also

References