Daniel Anthony Feetham KC MP is a Gibraltarian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and lawyer who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the

Gibraltar Social Democrats The Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) is a liberal-conservative, centre-right political party in Gibraltar. The GSD was the governing party for four successive terms in office under the leadership of Peter Caruana, from the 1996 general electi ...

(GSD) from 2013 to 2017.

Political career

Mr Feetham was one of the founders of the Gibraltar Labour Party in 2001. The Gibraltar Labour Party has since merged with the

. He obtained a history degree from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

and a law degree from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

. He is a barrister in England and Gibraltar and a Member of the Gibraltar Parliament. From 2004 to 2006 he was a member of the Gibraltar delegation that negotiated a new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

with the UK and co-ordinated the yes vote campaign in the referendum on the new Constitution in 2006. The new Constitution was adopted in Gibraltar in 2007. He served as Gibraltar's first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 2007-2011. In the 2011 general election the GSD was defeated by a very narrow margin but Mr Feetham was elected to Parliament 52 votes behind the then leader Peter Caruana. Mr Feetham became deputy leader of the GSD in 2012 and in February 2013 he was elected as leader of the GSD and became Leader of the Opposition until June 2017 when he stepped aside for family reasons. On 2 November 2010, Mr Feetham was stabbed in the back while out walking in Library Street with his children. Police arrested the attacker while the Minister underwent emergency surgery in St. Bernard's Hospital. His attacker was on bail at the time on charges of attempted murder of a doctor at St Bernard's Hospital and stabbed Mr Feetham because he had been declined, by a judge, legal aid to retain an English QC to represent him rather than having local representation. The knife attack cut his spleen in half which had to be removed. Despite the serious nature of the attack Mr Feetham survived. The attacker is serving a life sentence. Daniel Feetham was appointed one of Her Majesty's Counsel in December 2016.

Elections

In 2003, he contested the General Election as leader of the Gibraltar Labour Party. In 2007, he contested the General Election as a candidate for the Gibraltar Social Democrats. He was elected as an MP and as Minister for Justice. In 2013, he contested the leadership of the GSD after

Peter Caruana Sir Peter Richard Caruana, (born 15 October 1956) is a Gibraltarian former politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 1996 to 2011 and Leader of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) from 1991 to 2013. Caruana is a barrister by pr ...

stood down. He beat his opponent Damon Bossino and was elected GSD Leader and subsequently as Leader of the Opposition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feetham, Daniel Living people 21st-century Gibraltarian lawyers Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party politicians Gibraltar Labour Party politicians Gibraltar Social Democrats politicians Justice ministers of Gibraltar Year of birth missing (living people)

Political career

Elections

See also

References