PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil says in The Times today that the party needs the time and space to reflect serenely.

"Finger pointing and rash decisions will not make for good long-term results," he said.

"The scale of the defeat clearly shows that the people’s verdict had been long made and there was no chance of reversing it during the campaign."

He said that reasons of what went wrong were internal divisions, the handling of water and electricity bills and the honoraria issue but also the stream of complaints about MEPA and the perceived disconnect between the Government and voters. But surely, there was more than meets the eye and there were other reasons which needed to be determined.

Dr Busuttil confirmed he would resign from the EP to serve in the Maltese parliament.

He said that when he became deputy leader, he knew that he was going to face an election campaign in which Labour had an almost unassailable lead. And he also knew that the post would be statutorily up for re-election immediately after the election.

"So I am prepared to face the consequences."

He said he was prepared to continue serving and in the next few days would be deciding whether he should do this by standing for the party leadership.

Full opinion piece in The Times