Next Maltese general election

General elections will be held in Malta by 2027 to elect all members of the House of Representatives. The Labour Party, which had governed Malta since 2013, won a third term in the 2022 elections under Robert Abela. Shortly after the elections, Bernard Grech was re-elected unopposed for the leader of the Nationalist Party.

Next Maltese general election

← 2022 By 2027
All seats in the House of Representatives
Opinion polls
Leader Robert Abela Bernard Grech Party Labour Nationalist Last election 55.11%, 44 seats 42.12%, 35 seats Current seats 43 seats 35 seats
Incumbent Prime Minister Robert Abela Labour

Background

The previous election, which was held in March 2022, saw the Labour Party, which has governed the country since 2013, receive 55% of the popular vote and win 44 out of 79 seats in the House of Representatives.^[1] Robert Abela, the Prime Minister of Malta and leader of the Labour Party since 2020, and his new cabinet were sworn in on 30 March 2022.^[2] Bernard Grech, the leader of the Nationalist Party, was re-elected unopposed in May 2022.^[3]

Electoral system

MPs are elected from 13 five-seat constituencies by single transferable vote.^[4] Candidates who pass the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota in the first round are elected, and any surplus votes transferred to the remaining candidates, who will be elected if this enables them to pass the quota.^[4] The lowest ranked candidates are then eliminated one-by-one with their preferences transferred to other candidates, who are elected as they pass the quotient, until all five seats are filled.^[5] If a party wins a majority of first preference votes but fails to achieve a parliamentary majority, they are awarded seats to ensure a one-seat majority, if they are one of only two parties to obtain seats.^[5] Despite conducting elections under a proportional ranked preferential system, Malta has a stable two-party system, with only the Labour Party and Nationalist Party having a realistic chance of forming a government.^[6][7] Prior to the 2017 election, when the Democratic Party won two seats while running in a joint list with the Nationalist Party, the last time a party other than the Labour Party or the Nationalist Party won seats was in 1962.^[8][9]

In 2018, the government of Malta lowered the national voting age to 16.^[10] During the 2017–2022 legislature a gender-corrective mechanism was introduced, with Article 52(A) of the Constitution stating that provides for up to 12 additional seats for unelected candidates from "the under-represented sex" in case one of both makes up less than 40% of the elected MPs.^[11]

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in Malta

The table below lists parties represented in the House of Representatives after the 2022 general election.

Name		Ideology	Political position	Leader	2022 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	Labour Party (PL)	Social democracy	Centre-left	Robert Abela	55.11%	44 / 79
	Nationalist Party (PN)	Christian democracy	Centre-right	Bernard Grech	41.74%	35 / 79

Pre-election composition

Party		Seats
	Labour Party (PL)	43
	Nationalist Party (PN)	35
	Independent	1

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the next Maltese general election