[WATCH] Double local council upset as Labour takes Valletta and St Paul's Bay

• Labour majority in Valletta for the first time in history

• Upset in St Paul's Bay as Labour wins majority

• Labour elects Dario Vella as Mellieha Mayor

• PL majority in Marsa, winning six seats to the PN's one

• A whopping Labour majority of 75.96% in Birzebbugia

• Labour confirms majority in Ta' Xbiex, and retains majority in Dingli, Imqabba, Qrendi and Zejtun

• Pembroke retains a Labour majority

• PN wins Ghasri, Balzan, Iklin, Ghajnsielem, and St Julian's

• PN retains Nadur with stronger majority of 57%

• First independent candidate to be elected in this round, Steve Zammit Lupi in Zebbug

Valletta's local council has gone the way of Labour; this was confirmed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Twitter. Since its inception 25 years ago, the Valletta local council has never enjoyed a Labour majority. This means that Wednesday's Labour win here is a historic victory for PL.

Labour won four seats to PL's three in the capital and won Valletta by 53% of the votes.

Alfred Zammit, ONE TV presenter, will be Valletta's new Mayor after a hard-fought battle with PL popular candidate Ray Azzopardi.

Turnouts had already indicated that this could be a possibility since a 19-point drop in turnout from 2013 had been registered in the capital. 

In 2013, the PN had won the local council by a slim majority, 51.6% to PL's 48.4%.

Another upset was Labour winning majority in St Paul's Bay. Party agents had indicated that PN was leading in vote counts in this variable locality but that the lead was hair-thin. It was said that it could go either way. It went the way of Labour by 50.1% to PN's 42.8%.

The new Labour mayor is Alfred Grima. He was previously a councillor in this locality. 

It is official that Pembroke has retained its Labour majority and that incumbent Dean Hili will remain as its Mayor. After speculation that the locality will likely protest over the DB Group hotel development in the locality, Labour retains its dominance. A vote for Labour here amounted to 60%.

PL has also retained a majority in Dingli (73.9%), Imqabba (64%), Xewkija (69%), Qrendi (69%), Zejtun (80%) and also won the local council of Ta' Xbiex (62%).

It's a very slender win for PL in Mellieha too as it wins majority with just 87 votes or 48% of the vote. PN won 47% of the vote in this locality and AD took 4% or 258 of the votes.

Marsa has gone the way to PL as it dominated the opposition, winning six seats to the PN's one with 58% of the votes. The new Mayor has been confirmed as Josef Azzopardi, previously deputy mayor. He is also the Assistant Head of School at St Ignatius College. 

In Birzebbugia, Labour took 75.96% of the votes, increasing its dominance in this typically Labour stronghold.

Fontana in Gozo was also won by PL by 355 votes to PN's 327.

A strongly-contested Nadur was dominated by the PN with a stronger majority than in the previous local council election, winning the Gozo locality with 57% of the votes. 

PN reconfirmed St Julian’s, retaining the same number of seats, winning six to Labour’s three. Despite an early neck-and-neck battle for the typically PN stronghold, PN came out victorious once again by 58% to Labour's 35%. Alternattiva Demokratika's candidate Carmel Cacopardo garners just 151 first-count votes. 

Ghasri was first to declare its local council winners as Daniel Attard was elected Mayor for the Nationalist Party. The PN won by 185 to 158 votes for Labour, just a 27-vote difference.

The other elected candidates in the Gozo locality are Salvu Felice Pace for PN, Emanuel Mintoff for PN, Elizabeth Mintoff for PL and Sammy Saliba for PL.

Another PN victory was registered in Balzan, winning 72% of the vote to Labour's 27%. Iklin too was retained by PN with 56% of the vote. 

PN has retained hold on Ghajnsielem in Gozo, winning 68% of the vote or 1,381 to Labour's 630 (31%). 

Steve Zammit Lupi, an independent candidate, was elected in these elections on Zebbug with 947 first-count votes. 

First indications from party agents as they examined the ballot sheets and exchanged samples suggested that it would be a hard-fought, neck-and-neck battle for both Valletta and St Julian's, typically dominated by the Nationalist Party.

Party agents at other tables indicated that Qrendi was dominated by votes for Labour candidates.

In St Julian's, the most popular candidates seemed to be John Agius and Adrian Dominic Ellul for PL and Albert Buttigieg for PN.

In the last election, Valletta was won by the PN with just 150 votes. Alfred Zammit and Raymond Azzopardi for Labour were favourites in this locality, while Christian Micallef, Vince Fabri and Mark Spiteri Lucas were popular for the PN. 

The Naxxar counting hall was once again abuzz with party agents this evening as the first round of local council election results were tallied.

The vote-counting process to determine who will be elected to the 68 local councils will continue over the next two days.

Localities under intense scrutiny today included Valletta, Nadur, St Paul’s Bay, Mellieha and St Julian’s.

St Julian’s, with an incumbent PN majority, has seen one of lowest turnouts in these elections at 34%.

But the bigger contests were expected to be St Paul’s Bay and Valletta, which were both won by the PL.

St Paul's Bay was won by the PN in the last round of local council elections but this has been a dynamic locality with consistent changes in the electorate and has swung between the two major parties with equal measure.

Nadur in Gozo, which has always enjoyed a PN majority, was won by a slim margin in the last round. The PN had obtained 50.2% against Labour's 48.3%. However, the popularity of incumbent PN mayor Edward Said could prove to be the difference, allowing the PN to retain the traditional stronghold.

Localities which were decided today are: Birzebbuga, Ghajnsielem, Dingli, Balzan, Tarxien, Zebbug, Valletta, Fontana, Marsa, Mellieha, Qrendi, Nadur, Xewkija, Zejtun, Zurrieq, Ghasri, Iklin, Imqabba, Pembroke, St Julian’s, St Paul’s Bay, St Venera, and Ta’ Xbiex.

Ballot started being opened at 2pm but the vote-turning exercise to scrutinise ballots for any defects started at 5.30pm.

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