Sir Peter Richard Caruana, (born 15 October 1956) 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 ...

former politician who served as

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 ...

from

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 ...

(GSD) from 1991 to 2013. He is the longest serving Chief Minister to date. A

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

by profession, Caruana was appointed a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

for Gibraltar in 1998 (which became

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

upon the

death of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was ...

), and elected an Overseas Master of the Bench of

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 2011."Legal news". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. London. 14 April 2011. p. 30.

Early and personal life

Caruana was born in Gibraltar and is of

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

and Italian descent. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Gibraltar, and then Grace Dieu Manor School and the independent

Ratcliffe College Ratcliffe College is a coeducational Catholic private boarding and day school near the village of Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Leicestershire, approximately from Leicester, England. The college, situated in of parkland on the Fosse Way about si ...

(both in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England), and finally

Queen Mary College, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

and the

Council of Legal Education The Council of Legal Education (CLE) was an English supervisory body established by the four Inns of Court to regulate and improve the legal education of barristers within England and Wales. History The council was established in 1852 by the Inns o ...

. Before serving as Chief Minister, he was a partner in the law firm Triay & Triay. He is married to Cristina, daughter of

Joseph Triay Joseph (J.E.) Emmanuel Triay Queen's Counsel, QC (5 October 1931 – 3 July 2012) was a Gibraltarian people, Gibraltarian lawyer and politician, best known for having been one of the promoters of the ''Doves (Gibraltar), Doves'' in the 1960s. ...

, a local barrister. He has 7 children: Michael, Georgina, Nicola, Philippa, Patrick, Timothy and James. His leisure interests are golf, and political and current affairs.

Politics

Prior to being elected to

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

his political career progressed steadily. In 1990, Caruana became a member of the Gibraltar Social Democrats. One year later, he became leader of the party and in May

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

gained a seat in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

by winning Gibraltar's first contested by-election. In January 1992, Caruana led his party to the position of official opposition by winning seven seats in the House of Assembly. Finally, in May 1996, he led the party to victory and became Chief Minister of Gibraltar. The GSD which he led from 1991 to 2012, is robustly against any transfer of sovereignty to Spain, but remains in favour of safe dialogue. As Chief Minister, Caruana consistently refused to attend bi-lateral talks between the United Kingdom and Spain as part of the UK delegation, on the basis that the interests of the

Gibraltarians Gibraltarians (Spanish language, Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: ''Llanito#Demonym, llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territories, British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip o ...

were not protected, and he did not want to give any measure of legitimacy to talks over which Gibraltar had no control. In 2002, he called a referendum on the subject of the proposed joint sovereignty deal, which led to it being abandoned. In December 2004, the principle of tripartite talks, with the Government of Gibraltar as an equal party with the UK and Spain, was finally recognised, largely as a result of his involvement. This resulted in the Cordoba Agreement which improved communications between Gibraltar and Spain with direct flights from Madrid which subsequently collapsed due to a lack of demand, and in Spain finally recognising Gibraltar's

international dialling code Telephone country codes are telephone number prefixes for reaching subscribers in foreign countries or areas by international direct dialing (IDD). Country codes are defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in ITU-T standard ...

, thereby ending a long-standing dispute. In November 2007, he was returned to office for a fourth term. Under his leadership, the Gibraltar Social Democrats were narrowly beaten in the general election of December 2011 by their rival party, the coalition between the

Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) is a social-democratic political party in Gibraltar. The GSLP is the oldest surviving active political party in Gibraltar. Its roots are based in the trade union movement, as its founder and former lea ...

and the

Liberal Party of Gibraltar The Liberal Party of Gibraltar (Libs or LPG) is a liberal political party in Gibraltar. It was founded in 1991 as the Gibraltar National Party and is led by Dr. Joseph Garcia. The LPG forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the Gi ...

, who won said election by 1.2%. On 9 January 2013, Caruana made it public that he would stand down from the party leadership and as Leader of the Opposition at the end of the month.

Awards

Caruana was appointed a

for Gibraltar in 1998. In 2003, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of Merit of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (; ), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood ...

Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (born 24 February 1963) is one of two claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Early life Prince Carlo was born in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France, the only son of Prin ...

. Caruana was also appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

for services to Gibraltar.

References

External links

Office of the Chief Minister Peter CaruanaGibraltar Social Democrats, party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caruana, Peter 1956 births Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Chief ministers of Gibraltar 20th-century Gibraltarian lawyers Gibraltarian people of Italian descent Gibraltarian people of Maltese descent Gibraltarian Roman Catholics Gibraltar Social Democrats politicians Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Living people People educated at Ratcliffe College Gibraltarian King's Counsel

Early and personal life

Politics

Awards

See also

References

External links