Gibraltar Conservatives | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Headquarters | P.O.Box 419 Suite 16 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| National affiliation | Conservative Party |
| European affiliation | Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| Colours | Blue |
| Local affiliation | Gibraltar Social Democrats |
| Website | |
| gib-conservatives | |
TheConservative Party in Gibraltar is the part of theConservative Party that operates in the British Overseas Territory ofGibraltar. It is a branch of the South West Region of the Conservative Party. The party does not field candidates in the local elections in the territory, and only ever stood candidates for the former European Parliament constituency ofSouth West England and Gibraltar.
Gibraltar was first represented in European Elections in2004 as part of theSouth West England constituency. None of the mainGibraltar political parties ever contested European elections, so voters chose from United Kingdom party lists. TheGibraltar Social Democrats have however endorsed the Conservatives in European and UK Parliamentary elections.[1][2]
TheConservative Party polled over two-thirds of the Gibraltar vote, with no other party exceeding 10% support. This was to a large part due to the perception that theLabour Government in Britain had "betrayed" Gibraltar by attempting to negotiate a constitutional settlement involving joint sovereignty with Spain.[3] This arrangement was rejected overwhelmingly by Gibraltarians in the2002 sovereignty referendum. The Conservatives were perceived as being unequivocal in their support for Gibraltar's continued British status. In addition both the leader of the Conservative Party,Michael Howard, and his deputy,Michael Ancram, flew in to rally support. Before the election the local Conservatives mounted a vigorous campaign.
The Conservatives won with 51% of the votes.[4]
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On the previous two occasions Gibraltar has participated in European elections, theConservative Party had topped the poll. TheLiberal Democrats won the popular vote in the territory for the first time.[5]
Consistent with the poor performance of theConservatives throughout the UK in the2019 European Parliament election, the party received just 2.7% of the votes in Gibraltar, moving into fifth place with theLiberal Democrats and theBrexit Party taking the first and second places in the election. Incumbent MEPAshley Fox lost his seat.[6]
The below table lists performance in European Parliamentary elections.
| Year | Votes (Gib.) | Votes (SW Eng) | % (Gib.) | % (SW Eng) | Change (SW Eng) | Seats | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 8,297 | 457,371 | 69.52 | 31.6 | −10.1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2009 | 3,721 | 468,742 | 53.30 | 30.2 | −1.3 | 3 | 1 |
| 2014 | 1,236 | 433,151 | 17.2 | 28.9 | −1.4 | 2 | 2 |
| 2019 | 256 | 144,674 | 2.7 | 8.71 | −20.19 | 0 | 5 |
| Former Conservative MEPs for Gibraltar | Caroline Jackson Conservative 2004–2009[a] | Neil Parish Conservative 2004–2009[b] | Giles Chichester Conservative 2004–2014[c] | Julie Girling Conservative 2009–2017[d] | Ashley Fox Conservative 2009–2019 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Represented inParliament | |
|---|---|
| Formerly represented inParliament | |
| Formerly represented in theEuropean Parliament | |
| Defunct | |
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