Keith Azopardi (born 6 June 1967) is a Gibraltarian

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 ...

and

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 ...

serving 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 ...

since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. He was born in Gibraltar 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 & 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 His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar who is elected by the Gibraltar Parliament, and formally appointed by the governor of Gibraltar, representative of the British monarch. The incumbent chief ...

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, 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 degree in b ...

. He won the elections and became the new leader of the GSD in November 30, 2017

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 Queen's Counsel Gibraltarian people of Maltese descent British political party founders {{Gibraltar-politician-stub

See also

References