A district analysis of votes polled by political parties gives an almost identical picture for the 2009 MEP election and last year’s general election. Even the margin of victory for the Labour Party in both instances – 35,000 – is the same; a possible indication that last year’s victory had long been coming.

The graphs show Labour’s red wave making very strong inroads, as expected, in the southern districts (two to five) with support hitting well above 60 per cent and peaking at 70 per cent in the second district. The pattern is the same for both elections.

Labour’s strength in the south has its counterpart in the northern districts (eight to 12) where the blue wave gains ground. However, the depth of the PN’s support in this region is nowhere near Labour’s in the south. The Gozo district, traditionally blue territory, shows an almost even split between the major parties.

Of note is Alternattiva Demokratika’s green wave which is a slither throughout but widens in the northern districts where the party has traditionally enjoyed its strongest support.

The green wave exhibits similar characteristics in both elections but an interesting aspect of 2009 is the significant showing of far-right outfit Imperium Europa (the black wave) that garnered almost 4,000 votes.

The yellow wave represents Azzjoni Nazzjonali, a defunct party led by former PN MP Josie Muscat. The combined strength of AD, Imperium and AN in 2009 was equivalent to almost 11,000 votes.