Fabian Raymond Picardo (born 18 February 1972) is a

Gibraltarian The Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranea ...

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

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

serving as

Chief Minister of Gibraltar The chief minister of Gibraltar is the head of His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar who is elected by the Gibraltar Parliament, and formally appointed by the governor of Gibraltar, representative of the British monarch. The incumbent chi ...

and Leader of the

Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) is a social-democratic political party in Gibraltar. The GSLP is the oldest surviving active political party in Gibraltar. Its roots are based in the trade union movement, as its founder and former lea ...

since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

. At the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and 2019 Gibraltar general elections, Picardo was re-elected to two further four-year terms by the people of Gibraltar. Picardo attended the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he studied legal theory.

Early life and education

Picardo was born on 18 February 1972 in Gibraltar and grew up in the Upper Town area. He has said that the area where he grew up "always made me think about the huge potential that the bay of Gibraltar could have as long as we were able to work together with our Spanish neighbours." His father was a clerical worker for the Ministry of Defence on Gibraltar, and his mother was a personal assistant to Joshua Hassan, the founder of Hassans law firm and a

. Picardo has said that "My parents instilled in me the simple principle of equality, that nobody is better than anybody else and that we shouldn’t look down on absolutely anyone because all of us are created equal." Picardo's grandmother was Spanish, although he has said that the Picardo line came to Gibraltar during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

and that he's "particularly proud of that part of isbloodline." Picardo first entertained the idea of becoming a lawyer as the "result of a discussion with a teacher, who I was particularly keen to argue with, who told me that if I wanted to argue I should charge people for it and become a lawyer." When aged 14, he visited Hassans law firm to discuss the idea with the lawyers. From 1990 to 1993, Picardo studied jurisprudence at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

. His studies were supported by the grant system introduced by

Joe Bossano Sir Joseph John Bossano (born 10 June 1939) is a Gibraltarian politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 1988 to 1996 and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party from 1978 to 2011. He served as Leader of the Opposition ...

government in 1988. Oriel College paid tribute to Picardo's election by flying the flag of Gibraltar, and Picardo has also spoken at Oriel Law Society since his election. Picardo then studied at the Inns of Court School of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

in 1994.

Legal career

In September 1994, Picardo joined Hassans, the largest law firm in Gibraltar, as an associate. He became a partner in 2000. He was appointed as a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

on 12 June 2014.

Political career

Picardo was a co-founder of the Gibraltar National Party in 1991, the predecessor to the

Liberal Party of Gibraltar The Liberal Party of Gibraltar (Libs or LPG) is a liberal political party in Gibraltar. It was founded in 1991 as the Gibraltar National Party and is led by Dr. Joseph Garcia. The LPG forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the G ...

. In 2003, he joined the

(GSLP) and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the GSLP in that year's

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Chief Minister of Gibraltar (23195770440)

Picardo has described what made him interested in politics as a lawyer in Gibraltar: "I started to wake up to politics and see what Hassan had done, and I started to understand what Joe Bossano was doing. I realised that if I had the ability to become a lawyer then I should use that ability also in the interests of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a place where all of us have to pull our weight; we all have to do what we can and I wanted to do what I could in politics." Picardo became the leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party in 2011, taking over from

. He won the 2011 election, forming a coalition government with the Liberal Party. Picardo said that the "crowning achievements" of his first term were two new schools, a university, a new bank, and a new 700-berth marina. He also appointed Gibraltar's first Minister for Equalities and passed the Civil Partnerships Act in 2014, ending legal discrimination against same-sex couples. In October 2015, he said that if

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

took place, Gibraltar "would have to carefully reconsider what the economic prospects for Gibraltar are and how we would be positioned."

Personal life

Picardo is married to Justine Olivero, who works for Hassans law firm, and they have two sons and one daughter, Sebastian, Oliver and Valentina.

References

External links

Gibraltar profile. Chief minister: Fabian Picardo
at

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

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Fabián Picardo, nuevo primer ministro de Gibraltar
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Picardo, Fabian 1972 births Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Chief Ministers of Gibraltar Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party politicians Gibraltarian people of Italian descent Gibraltarian Queen's Counsel Living people People of Ligurian descent 20th-century Gibraltarian lawyers 21st-century Gibraltarian lawyers