Maurice Xiberras - Political Career

Political Career

An integrationist from the outset - he was involved in the drafting of the Pro Integration Movement's manifesto in 1967 - Xiberras sat alongside Major Robert Peliza as a member of the . As a member of the Integration with Britain Party (IWBP) team at the Constitutional Conference chaired by Lord Shepherd in 1968 that drafted the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution. He entered the House of Assembly after the 1969 elections, becoming the Minister for Labour, Social Security, and Housing under the IWBP Government and by 1970 he was the de facto Deputy Chief Minister, deputising for Major Peliza as Chief Minister in his absence. In the 1972 elections he renewed his seat, but upon the victory of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR), he moved to the Opposition seats along with his six IWBP colleagues. Almost immediately, in October 1972, he succeeded Major Peliza as party leader and therefore as Leader of the Opposition.