Keith Azopardi is a

Gibraltarian Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea ...

lawyer and politician serving as

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

and Leader of the

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

since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He was born in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

on 6 June 1967 and was called to the Bars of England, Wales and Gibraltar in 1990. He is of Maltese descent. He was a founder member of the Gibraltar National Party (which later became the Gibraltar Liberal Party) in December 1991. He later contested the 1992 general election as a candidate for that party, although he was not elected to Parliament. He served as minister for environment and health for the

from 1996 to 2000, after which he was appointed deputy

chief minister of Gibraltar The chief minister of Gibraltar is the head of Government of Gibraltar, His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar who is Elections in Gibraltar, elected by the Gibraltar Parliament, and formally appointed by the governor of Gibraltar, representat ...

and minister for trade and industry, a position he held until 2003. He stood down from politics in 2003 but later founded the Progressive Democratic Party in June 2006. He was also involved in the negotiations with the British government that led to the grant of the new Gibraltar Constitution of 2006. In October 2009, Azopardi published a book "Sovereignty and the Stateless Nation: Gibraltar in the Modern Legal Context" (Hart Publishing ) discussing the constitutional status of Gibraltar, and proposing ways forward to achieve an enduring settlement to the dispute with Spain. In July 2017, he rejoined with the GSD and has represented himself as candidate for 2017 Gibraltar Social Democrats leadership election, opposing

Roy Clinton Roy Mark Clinton is a Gibraltarian politician, former banker and author who is a member of the Gibraltar Social Democrats and currently serves as the shadow minister for finance in the Parliament of Gibraltar. Clinton obtained a bachelor's degr ...

. He won the elections and became the new leader of the GSD in 30 November 2017. Azopardi led the party into the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

election, focusing on the theme of "The Gibraltar You Deserve" but ultimately was defeated by the incumbent GSLP-Liberals under the leadership of chief minister

Fabian Picardo Fabian Raymond Picardo (born 18 February 1972) is a Gibraltarian politician and barrister, serving as Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party since 2011. At the 2015 and 2019 Gibraltar general elections, ...

who won a third term in office. The party suffered the loss of a seat to Together Gibraltar, who won their first ever seat in parliament, and an overall decrease in their share of the vote by 6.01%. Following the 2019 election, Azopardi remained as party leader and served as leader of the opposition again during the 13th Parliament of Gibraltar. He took the party into the

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election, and polling throughout the campaign showed the GSD narrowly ahead and at times statistically tied with the GSLP-Liberals. The party focused their campaign on the theme of change after eleven years of Fabian Picardo serving as chief minister, using the slogan "Make The Change For a Bright Future". Despite the GBC exit poll on election night suggesting an incredibly narrow victory for the party with Keith Azopardi expected to become chief minister, ultimately once the votes had been counted the party fell short of government and Fabian Picardo and the GSLP-Liberals won a fourth consecutive term in office. Despite suffering a surprising defeat, the party gained two seats and increased their vote share by 22.6% and made political history in Gibraltar by becoming the first opposition to hold eight seats versus the traditional seven seats the opposition have won in previous elections.

References

Living people 20th-century Gibraltarian lawyers 21st-century Gibraltarian lawyers Progressive Democratic Party (Gibraltar) politicians Gibraltar Social Democrats politicians Government ministers of Gibraltar 1967 births Gibraltarian King's Counsel Gibraltarian people of Maltese descent British political party founders Alumni of Keele University {{Gibraltar-politician-stub

See also

References