Mayor of Gibraltar

The Mayor of Gibraltar is the ceremonial official of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The mayor is appointed by the elected Members of Parliament^[1] and the office is situated at City Hall John Mackintosh Square. Since 6 June 2023, theatre actress, author and Miss Gibraltar 1970, Carmen Gomez, has held the position of Mayor of Gibraltar, succeeding Christian Santos GMD.^[2]

Since its creation in 1921, the city council had a chairman. In 1955, upon request of the members of the city council, the post was renamed to mayor, and therefore, the mayor of Gibraltar was chosen from among the members of the council. Joshua Hassan, MVO, QC, JP, the chairman of the city council at the time became the first mayor of Gibraltar.

The city council disappeared when the new Gibraltar Constitution Order in Council was signed in 1969. However, the mayor of Gibraltar survived, but only with a ceremonial character, and was to be elected by the House of Assembly (later the Parliament).^[3] This meant that office was invariably taken by the Speaker or a government minister.^[4]

The 1969 Constitution stated:^[3]

A person elected to the office of Mayor shall hold office upon such terms and conditions, and shall perform such functions (being ceremonial functions of a civic character), as may be determined by the Governor, acting after consultation with the Gibraltar Council.

Following the new 2006 Constitution, the mayor no longer had to be chosen from among the members of Parliament. Instead, the mayor is appointed by Parliament. The intention was to move to a new system whereby citizens from the community at large can be appointed mayor for a one-year period, although this can sometimes be for longer. The Government of Gibraltar announced that a deputy mayor would also be appointed for the same period and would then take up the office of mayor.^[4]

The Mayor of Gibraltar is appointed by Parliament but no longer from within Parliament, and is to hold the position for a minimum one-year period.^[5] As per the 2006 Constitution:^[1]

A person elected to the office of Mayor shall hold office upon such terms and conditions, and shall perform such functions (being ceremonial functions of a civic character), as may be determined by the Parliament.

A deputy mayor is at the same time appointed by Parliament for one year to assist and support the mayor in the discharge of mayoral duties, as well as to act as mayor when she or he is unable to participate in a civic event. The deputy will take office as mayor the following year and a new deputy appointed, and so on.^[5][6]

Since 1969, the duties of the mayor are entirely ceremonial and civic.^[5] The posts of mayor and deputy mayor of Gibraltar are honorific and thus unpaid.^[4]

The following is a list of all the mayors of Gibraltar since the first tenure began in 1955:^[7]

No.	Image	Name	Took office	Left office
1		The Hon. Sir Joshua Hassan CBE MVO QC JP	23 February 1955	2 June 1969
2		The Hon. Col. William Thompson OBE JP	2 June 1969	6 November 1970
3		The Hon. Alfred J. Vasquez CBE MA	6 November 1970	22 April 1976
4		The Hon. Adolfo J. Canepa Esq	22 April 1976	31 December 1978
5		The Hon. Horace J. Zammit Esq	1 January 1979	31 July 1979
6		The Hon. Abraham W. Serfaty CBE JP	1 August 1979	31 July 1988
7		The Hon. Mari I. Montegriffo	1 August 1988	20 March 1995
8		The Hon. Robert Mor Esq	20 March 1995	31 July 1996
9		Judge John E. Alcantara CBE	1 August 1996	31 July 2004
10		The Hon. Clive G. Beltran MP	1 August 2004	31 July 2008
11		Solomon 'Momy' Levy, MBE, JP	1 August 2008	31 July 2009
12		Olga Zammitt OBE, JP	1 August 2009	31 July 2010
13		Anthony J P Lombard LL.B.	1 August 2010	31 July 2011
14		Julio Alcantara MBE MA	1 August 2011	31 July 2012
15		Anthony Lima MBE RD RNR Retd.	1 August 2012	31 July 2014
16		The Hon. Adolfo J. Canepa OBE GMH MP	1 August 2014	31 July 2017
17		Kaiane Aldorino GMH	1 August 2017	4 April 2019
18		John Gonçalves MBE GMD	4 April 2019	1 June 2021
19		Christian Santos GMD	1 June 2021	6 June 2023
20		Carmen Gomez	6 June 2023	Incumbent

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