With eye on GSLP leadership, Feetham believes he has ‘widest electoral appeal’

Nigel Feetham, the Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry, has an eye on leading the GSLP into the next general election and believes he has “the widest electoral appeal” to safeguard the party’s core vote and recoup votes lost to the GSD when Gibraltar last went to the polls.

With Chief Minister Fabian Picardo to step down as leader of the GSLP before Gibraltar next goes to the polls, rumours are rife of rivalry between the two GSLP ministers who have so far indicated they will put themselves forward for the party’s top post.

The GSLP holds internal elections to choose its leader every two years – the last one was in November 2024 - but in recent years Mr Picardo has stood unopposed.

“All I can say is that I'm not going to be distracted from the job that I'm doing,” Mr Feetham said.

“My priority is to deliver the best results for the people of Gibraltar.”

“At the point in time that Fabian decides to step down, I have already made it publicly known that I will be putting my name forward for the leadership of the party.”

In explaining why, Mr Feetham insisted “categorically” that he is not a career politician.

“I am not doing this as a career,” he said.

“I am doing this because I want to deliver a vision for the people of Gibraltar and therefore I believe that in order to be able to take that vision to the next level, I can only do so if I occupy the position of Chief Minister, which then puts me in a position where that I will have also responsibility for the public finances of Gibraltar.”

“Right now, I have responsibility for taxation, which is how do we raise the revenue, but I have no responsibility for how we spend the money.”

“So that is the reason why primarily, to my mind, I would be putting my name forward for the leadership.”

Asked what he would do differently, Mr Feetham had a clear response.

“I would very much do what I've done in other ministries, so tighten the reins,” he said.

“I really want to take a hard look at where we want to be as a community in a 10-year time horizon.”

Mr Feetham acknowledged that whoever leads the GSLP into the next election will face a tough challenge, flagged already by the narrow electoral victory on the last occasion in 2023.

Alongside the natural wastage of four consecutive terms in office, the governing parties also face the electoral impact of controversy surrounding sensitive issues such as the McGrail Inquiry and the findings of two reports by the former Principal Auditor.

The Government has faced tough criticism too from the Opposition about its handling of public finances and concerns about financial waste and abuse.

And while policies will obviously play a crucial role, winning the next election could also come down to appeal.

“I think the key question for the next election on both parties is, who has more electoral appeal to win the confidence of the wider electorate?” he said.

“I believe that I have the electoral appeal to appeal to the broadest section of our community, cutting across party lines.”

“Because in a close election, unless you're able to cut into party lines and convince persons that didn't vote for you in the last election…what it means is that you've lost.”

“My job is to appeal to those voters to come back to the fold and therefore support my party to win that election, [and] I believe I have broader electoral appeal to do that.”

At present there are likely two main contenders to be the next leaders of the GSLP, Mr Feetham and Health and Business Minister, Gemma Arias Vasquez.

The process will be an internal election in the party and others may yet offer themselves for the post too, something Mr Feetham said he would welcome.

“I hope more colleagues throw their hat into the ring,” Mr Feetham said.

“I think it's important that the next leader of the GSLP has the broadest support of the membership.”

“I think there's a real possibility there will be more contenders.”

If someone else wins the GSLP leadership contest, Mr Feetham said he would work with them.

“I’m here to support my party and I’m here to support the Government of Gibraltar,” he said.

Mr Feetham acknowledged that many people believed Mr Picardo was “overtly favouring” Ms Arias Vasquez, something he was “constantly reminded of” even if he did his best to ignore the gossip.

Ms Arias Vasquez, for example, is routinely asked by the Chief Minister to stand in for him at numerous high-profile events, raising her on profile in the process both locally and internationally.

And while Mr Feetham said the Chief Minister was naturally entitled to express a view on the contest, the inescapable conclusion for many is that Mr Picardo was taking sides even before it had started, meaning “it’s not a fair race”.

“I mean, that hasn't been lost on anybody in Gibraltar,” he said.

“But obviously what it means is that he is taking sides on a potential leadership contest even before there is a leadership contest.”

Mr Feetham has deep roots in the GSLP, being the son of former trade and industry minister Michael Feetham.

Some may view that as giving him an edge with the party’s core membership.

Conversely, his brother Daniel Feetham is a former leader of the GSD, a party in which Mr Feetham was once a member of the executive.

“My argument is that the next leader of the GSLP has to have very broad electoral support to win the next election,” he said, noting the knife-edge result when Gibraltar last went to the polls.

“You've got to bring back those voters who voted GSD.”

“So therefore, if you want to have the widest electoral appeal, you've got to appeal to the widest section of the community.”

“I believe that I have that electoral appeal.”

Mr Feetham did not see his past political record as either an advantage or a disadvantage, noting too that many Opposition MPs had also been active in other parties in the past.

“If we start talking about party affiliation, party links, then more than half the Opposition bench has either been linked to another party, stood for election with another party, been a member of the GSLP or have family support in the GSLP,” he said.