With Clinton appointment, GSD looks to future

The appointment of Roy Clinton as GSD Deputy Leader reflects the “evolution” of the party as it looks to the future, the Leader of the Opposition Daniel Feetham said.
Mr Clinton’s appointment to the role, which has been vacant since the 2015 general election, was announced earlier this week and in an interview with the Chronicle both men reflected on the GSD’s ‘optimistic’ future.
In outlining his reasons for choosing Mr Clinton, Mr Feetham said: “What Roy brings to the table is a sense of calmness, a sense of courageousness and intelligence.”
Mr Clinton, a former banker who has twice headed the Gibraltar Bankers Association, took the lead on issues of public finances once he was elected as an MP a little over a year ago.
“The public finances of Gibraltar are a very, very difficult area of government business… particularly in the climate we now live in where the Government is being extremely opaque in the way it is structuring the public finances of Gibraltar,” Mr Feetham explained.
But, he said, Mr Clinton has dealt with the issue in a way that has surpassed his expectations.
“I knew that Roy would do a good job but he has done an excellent job,” he said.
In coming to the decision Mr Feetham said he looked for candidates who have not only done well in their portfolios and could assist him in his role as party leader, but also with an eye to the future.
“We’ve got to look to the future as well and we’ve got to look at somebody who, if called upon by the party in the future, might be somebody that is ready, willing and above all able to take the party forward,” he said.
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