Fading stars
Outgoing tourism minister Francis Zammit Dimech, who last time round was elected from both the ninth and tenth districts, only managed to get elected as a result of the constitutional amendment which gives extra seats to the party with a relative majority. In the tenth district he saw his vote dropping from 2,141 to 1,824.
Giovanna Debono in Gozo was confirmed as the PN’s frontrunner but saw her vote drop from 6,591 to 5,633.
Outgoing health minister Louis Deguara was re-elected from the twelfth district despite seeing his first count drop from 3,962 to 2,249.
And despite being ditched by Lawrence Gonzi a few days before when the PM said he would take over MEPA reform, environment minister George Pullicino still managed to get elected, despite losing 600 first-count votes from 2003.
Another minister who withstood the onslaught of change was Austin Gatt who remained intact, losing only 386 votes in the first district.
Jesmond Mugliett, whose resignation was not accepted by the Prime Minister a year ago, managed to get elected but saw his first-count vote on the fourth district drop from 4,073 to 2,484.
Another fading star on the PN camp is Ninu Zammit who failed to get elected from the sixth district and lost 149 votes on the fifth district, from which he was elected.
On the Labour camp, former deputy leader George Vella still managed to get elected despite seeing his vote decline from 3,050 to 1,517. He was elected on both his traditional third district and the fifth district.

Vintage candidates
Old-timer Marie-Louise Coleiro saw her vote increase from 4,439 to 5,490 in the sixth district. On the same district, veteran Nationalist MP and former minister and once PN leadership contender John Dalli also increased his vote from 4,439 to 5,490. Dalli also made a good showing on the tenth district where he got more first count votes than district heavyweight Francis Zammit Dimech.
Labour MP Karmenu Vella, a former minister under Dom Mintoff and a key player in the tourism industry, has seen his vote on the fifth district increase from 4,275 to 4,911.
Yet it is not just candidates with substance who saw an improvement in votes. Silvio Parnis, the Labour MP who doubles as a TV presenter when he is not about his everyday duties at the Rabat health centre, saw his vote rise from 4,157 to 4,890.

Fallen angels
Louis Galea, a leadership contender in 2004, a former secretary-general and a regular Nationalist MP since 1976, was this election’s main casualty. His losses can be partially attributed to the changes in electoral districts after Siggiewi was added to Qormi.
Galea had to contest the sixth district for the first time, after Siggiewi was annexed to Qormi and Luqa, gaining only 1,810 votes. On the fifth district his vote dropped from 2,466 to 2,317.
Censu Galea, a prime target of Alfred Sant’s campaign to delegitimise the Cabinet, saw his vote fall from 3,409 to 1,648, losing his seat in the process.
Another favourite Labour target, parliamentary secretary Tony Abela also failed to make it to parliament.
Joe Brincat, a veteran Labour MP since 1971 and a deputy leader before the 2003 election, has also lost his seat in parliament after seeing his fourth district vote collapse from 2382 to 164.
And Nationalist MP and Opus Dei member Michael Asciak was also refused at the hustings, despite his first-count vote increasing from 165 in 2003, to 564 (last elections, party leader Eddie Fenech Adami took the lion’s share of votes).

New stars in parliament
Nadur mayor Chris Said, who was identified as one of the PN’s new team, increased his vote from 1,323 to 2,573 and got elected for the first time.
President Eddie Fenech Adami’s son Beppe was elected from the eighth district for the first time after gaining 1,857 first-count votes.
Psychiatrist Joe Cassar, who was elected for the first time in 2003, saw his vote increase from 204 to 1,945.
Labour MP Justyne Caruana increased her first count from 1,896 to 3,169 but was still surpassed by veteran Anton Refalo who got 4,599.
In the 12th district, Lawrence Gonzi’s brother Michael saw his vote increase from 2,323 to 3,697.
Lawyer Franco Debono who took Louis Galea’s seat in parliament also saw his fifth district vote increase from 1,130 to 2,065.
Alfred Sant’s surgeon and newcomer Anthony Zammit also got elected with 2,737 votes on the seventh district.
Hamrun mayor Luciano Busuttil has also managed to make it to parliament by inheriting a substantial chunk of Alfred Sant’s first count vote. Another MLP newcomer is Marlene Pullicino who got 2,063 votes on the fifth district, while former Campaign for National Independence campaigner Anthony Agius Decelis became Labour frontrunner on the 11th district.

Botched candidatures
Contesting on the same district as the Prime Minister, Georg Sapiano was eliminated from the race with 577 votes in the fourteenth count, with less votes than Alternattiva Demokratika candidate Arnold Cassola.
Pippo Psaila, who was presented as the PN’s green candidate, only managed to get 383 first count votes – far less than AD chairperson Harry Vassallo’s 524 votes. And Siggiewi mayor Robert Musumeci, who presented himself as a moderate, was rewarded with 875 votes – a far cry from the vote tally of party hawk Clyde Puli who got 2,383 first count votes.

The new heavyweights
Tonio Fenech, who distinguished himself as parliamentary secretary for finance, was elected for the first time from two districts getting 5,509 first-count votes in the eight district – a better result than PN deputy leader Tonio Borg, the PN’s runner-up in this district.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s loss of green credentials through his involvement in an application for an open air disco in Mistra caused immense damage to his party in the final days of the campaign, but his antics endeared him with the PN electorate: he was elected from two districts, increasing first-count vote from 1,312 to 2,824 on the seventh district and for the first time on the 11th district with 2,301 first-count votes.
Dolores Cristina, who was previously elected from one district, now joins the ranks of the new heavyweights by being elected on both the ninth and tenth districts, like former Sliema mayor Robert Arrigo, who emerged as the PN’s frontrunner on the tenth district after seeing his votes increase by more than a thousand from 2003.
In the Labour camp, Evarist Bartolo confirmed his heavyweight status by getting elected from two districts. While the twelfth district his vote increased from 2,486 to 3,086, but in the tenth district his vote fell from 2,072 to 1,740, losing frontrunner position to Michael Falzon.
MLP deputy leader Michael Falzon now joins the heavyweight ranks after being elected from both the second and tenth districts. The other deputy leader Charles Mangion managed to increase his vote in the sixth district from 2,208 to 3,845 and to get elected for the first time from the fourth district where he got 2,411 votes. Yet in both districts Mangion failed to emerge as a frontrunner, coming second after Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca on the sixth district, and third after Silvio Parnis and Karl Chircop on the fourth district.