Balancing Labour’s power: How delegates kept leaders in check

Labour delegates have a tradition of counterbalancing the power of their leader by electing deputy leaders not moulded in their leader’s image, reflecting the mindset of the party’s grassroots. 

Perhaps the more recent example redolent of such a deliberate choice was Toni Abela, the deputy leader for party affairs elected shortly after Joseph Muscat was made leader in 2008, together with Anglu Farrugia as deputy leader for parliamentary affairs. 

Farrugia had previously failed his leadership bid against incumbent Alfred Sant after the 2003 general election but was resoundingly elected as deputy leader in a contest against Chris Cardona, later a close ally and friend of Joseph Muscat. Farrugia, a former police officer who had challenged Sant for the party leadership after the EU referendum election loss, which he had squarely blamed on a vote-buying scheme organised by the Nationalist Party, had been narrowly defeated for the top post. 

In years to come, having expressed reservations about Labour’s shift from opposing EU membership to embracing its draft EU constitutional treaty, his belligerent style and ‘old Labour’ mindset were possibly seen as a counterbalance to Joseph Muscat’s moderate, continental and socially liberal brand of politics. 

So, while delegates overwhelmingly elected the 34-year-old Joseph Muscat with 494 votes in a run-off against George Abela, who garnered 291 votes, Anglu Farrugia was elected deputy leader for parliamentary affairs by 535 votes to Chris Cardona’s 293. 

Toni Abela, whose principled stance against old Labour’s corruption had originally led to his expulsion from the party in 1989, was a different kettle of fish. 

He was more aligned with the new leader’s socially liberal and modern outlook, but his socialist rhetoric and fiery oratory also endeared him to the party’s grassroots, providing a contrast to Muscat’s more business-friendly approach. Abela easily defeated Gavin Gulia, a former justice minister under Alfred Sant in a run-off, following the elimination of candidates Joe Mifsud and Clyde Joe Cassar.

PL deputy leaders party affairs since 1976 

• Joseph Brincat 1976-1980
• Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici 1980-1983 
• Guze Cassar 1983-1987 
• Joe Debono Grech 1987-1992 
• George Abela 1992-1998 
• Joseph Brincat 1998-2003 
• Michael Falzon 2003-2008 
• Toni Abela 2008-2016 
• Konrad Mizzi 2016 
• Chris Cardona 2016-2020 
• Daniel Jose Micallef 2020-2024

However, the choice of deputy leaders later came back to haunt the party on the eve of the 2013 election, as the Nationalist Party identified Anglu Farrugia as the weakest link in Labour’s chain of command. Following Farrugia’s poor performance in a debate with counterpart Simon Busuttil, Muscat quickly removed Farrugia under the pretext that he had attacked a member of the judiciary and replaced him with the popular MEP and former Air Malta chairman Louis Grech.

Even in this choice, Muscat was careful to select a deputy leader who, while aligned with his thinking and moderate brand, was older and more experienced, thus addressing concerns about Muscat’s own inexperience.

The clash of ministers under Muscat 

Muscat’s grip on the party was strengthened after 2013 to the extent that, despite the Panama Papers scandal, Konrad Mizzi was still elected deputy leader for party affairs, with the support of 97% of delegates in a one-horse race in 2016. 

Significantly, Muscat paved the way for Mizzi to become deputy leader by changing the party’s statute which previously banned MPs from the role of deputy leader for party affairs. The change was approved by 393 delegates against one in February 2016, just a day before nominations were opened for the choice of new deputy leader. 

Mizzi was axed from the role a few weeks later, after Muscat made the fateful decision to keep the errant minister in his Cabinet as the person responsible for public-private partnerships, while removing him as deputy leader. 

Mizzi was later replaced by minister Chris Cardona, in a contest against Owen Bonnici, both being loyal ministers who posed no problems for Muscat. 

The situation was different in 2017, when delegates had to choose between finance minister Edward Scicluna, equality minister Helena Dalli, and health minister Chris Fearne in a contest for the post of deputy prime minister. 

At the time, it was widely rumoured that Muscat preferred Scicluna and Dalli over Fearne, always a potential leadership contender, but following Dalli’s elimination, Fearne narrowly defeated Scicluna with 51% of the delegates’ vote. 

Fearne remained in the post even after his failed leadership bid following Muscat’s controversial exit in 2020. Robert Abela’s willingness to accept a deputy leader with a very different mindset proved to be a winning card for the party, with Fearne earning widespread respect during the COVID-19 pandemic and counterbalancing Abela’s more populist approach to politics, with a sense of statesmanship.

PL deputy leaders in parliament 

• P. Bugelli 1920-1925 
• Michael Dundon 1925-1929 
• Paul Boffa 1929-1947 
• Dom Mintoff 1947-1949 
• Joseph Flores 1949-1955 
• Ġużè Ellul Mercer 1955-1961 
• Anton Buttigieg 1961-1976 
• Agatha Barbara 1976-1981 
• Wistin Abela 1981-1982 
• Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici 1982-1984 
• Ġuże Cassar 1984-1987 
• Joseph Brincat 1987-1992 
• George Vella 1992-2003 
• Charles Mangion 2003-2008 
• Angelo Farrugia 2008-2012 
• Louis Grech 2012-2017 
• Chris Fearne 2017-2024

The tradition of electing deputy leaders who counterbalance the power of the leader predates the eras of Muscat and Abela. 

For example, despite being considered a friend and ally of Alfred Sant, Evarist Bartolo was defeated in a contest that saw Michael Falzon elected deputy leader for party affairs in 2003. Concurrently, Labour also resoundingly elected Charles Mangion in a four-way race that included Leo Brincat, Joe Brincat, and Jose Herrera, for the post of deputy leader for parliamentary affairs.

No stepping stone to leadership 

Another lesson from history is that it is very difficult for a Labour leader to use the post of deputy leader as a stepping stone to the leadership. 

In fact, Alfred Sant, Joseph Muscat, and Robert Abela, all made it to the top without having served as deputy leaders. 

In contrast, former deputy leaders like Joe Brincat, Michael Falzon, and Chris Fearne all failed in their bids to become party leaders. The exceptions to this rule are Dom Mintoff, who was elected Deputy Leader in 1944, and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who was hand-picked by Mintoff in 1980 before being confirmed as his deputy by the party conference.  

A year later, Mintoff designated Mifsud Bonnici as his successor, with the decision again being rubber-stamped by the party conference. Mintoff’s choice of Mifsud Bonnici was believed to have been dictated by his fear of a leadership vacuum that could be filled by a strongman like Lorry Sant. 

This is also a plausible reason why Labour opted for having two deputy leaders, a move undertaken in 1976, interpreted as a means by Mintoff to dilute the strength of power-mongers within the party. 

It was under Robert Abela that a clearer distinction between the two roles was made, through a change in the statute approved in June 2020 to once again ban MPs from contesting the post of deputy leader for party affairs, reversing the change made by Joseph Muscat in 2016 to pave the way for Konrad Mizzi’s election. 

Ironically this change enacted by Abela could pave the way for Jason Micallef, a popular and outspoken former general secretary, to contest the role without facing the competition of a sitting MP. 

Micallef’s return to a leadership post still raises the question as to whether Abela will feel the heat of an ‘insurgency’ that carries with it the mark of Labour loyalists close to disgraced prime minister Joseph Muscat, now facing charges of corruption over the fraudulent Vitals PPP. Delegates will be the ones to choose, but will the party machinery swing towards its leader, or the force of a counterbalancing wave?