[WATCH] Former PN mayor Ian Castaldi Paris is Labour Party’s newest MP

Ian Castaldi Paris is the Labour Party’s newest MP after winning the casual election to replace Chris Cardona on the Eighth District.

Castaldi Paris garnered the majority of votes to beat the only other challenger, Rachel Tua, a former Labour equal opportunities secretary and Mosta councillor.

He obtained 2,286 votes against Tua's 1,300. There were 100 non-transferable votes.

The election was necessary after Cardona resigned his parliamentary seat last month. He stays on as PL deputy leader.

The result completes Castaldi Paris’s transition to the PL after having served as the Nationalist Party’s mayor for Lija.

He becomes the second former PN functionary to be elected on a PL ticket to parliament in this legislature. Former PN executive committee member Jean Claude Micallef was elected MP in a casual election last December to take the seat vacated by now European Commissioner Helena Dalli.

Castaldi Paris switched to Labour in 2015 and contested the general election with the PL for the first time in 2017. The notary garnered 232 first count votes in the general election.

The casual election was held at the Naxxar counting hall in surreal surroundings as counting agents, party agents and journalists all wore face masks as part of COVID-19 preventive measures.

Castaldi Paris said that he will be resigning his posts at Identity Malta and the board of directors at Air Malta to be able to concentrate on his political work.

He is expected to formally take his place in parliament this afternoon.