Jean Claude Micallef elected to Parliament in casual election

Jean Claude Micallef is Malta's new MP, having won the third district casual election to occupy the seat vacated by Helena Dalli.

Micallef was elected after the second count, obtaining around 100 more votes than his closest challenger, Marsaskala mayor Mario Calleja.

Helena Dalli had stepped down as minister after being nominated for the post of European Commissioner by Joseph Muscat in August, but had retained her parliamentary seat until her formal confirmation in October. Commissioner Dalli is now in charge of the equality portfolio within the European Commission.

Micallef had fallen out with the PN after the 2013 election, joining Joseph Muscat’s Labour Party movement and eventually contesting the 2017 election on the third district.

The Labour Party had six unelected candidates on the third district. Micallef started off as front-runner with 266 votes to his name, while Calleja followed with 97 votes.

In order to get elected in the casual election, the candidate had to obtain half the district quota, which in this case amounted to 1,947 votes.

Calleja had started on the back-foot, after receiving 460 votes on the first count, as opposed to Micallef, who had received 670 votes.

The other Labour candidates who could contest the casual election were Edric Micallef, Marion Mizzi, Sebastian Muscat and Kenneth Spiteri.