Joseph John Andrew Garcia is a Gibraltarian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and

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 the current leader of the Liberal Party of Gibraltar (LPG) and Deputy Chief Minister of the

Government of Gibraltar His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The head of state is King Charles III who is represented by the Governor. Elections in Gibraltar are held every four ...

. The LPG controls three of the 17 seats in the Gibraltar Parliament after the 2011 general election and is in government with its political allies, the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP).

Education

Garcia graduated from the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

in England with a

first class honours degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in history and obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

on "''The Political and Constitutional Development of Gibraltar''".

Political career

Garcia has been leader of the LPG since 1992 and was first elected to the then Gibraltar House of Assembly on a by-election. He served as Shadow Minister for

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

and Commercial Affairs from 1999 to 2000. He was re-elected at the 2000 election and served as Shadow Minister for Trade, Industry, Tourism and Financial Services until 2003. In 2011 Garcia was appointed Vice President of

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

. Garcia's party then formed a coalition to contest the 2003 election with the GSLP, which won five seats, re-electing Garcia to serve as Shadow Minister for Trade, Industry, Tourism and Heritage until 2007 when he was again re-elected at the 2007 election serving in the same Shadow Ministry. After 12 years in opposition, Garcia was elected into Government following the election of 8 December 2011. The newly elected GSLP Chief Minister of Gibraltar,

Fabian Picardo Fabian Raymond Picardo (born 18 February 1972) is a Gibraltarian politician and barrister serving as Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party since 2011. At the 2015 and 2019 Gibraltar general elections, P ...

, appointed Garcia Deputy Chief Minister with responsibility for planning and lands, political, democratic and civic reform, and civil aviation. During the general election campaign in 1996 Garcia ripped up the GSLP manifesto during a leaders debate programme on GBC. His party now forms the Government with the GSLP. Garcia supports Panorama which is a daily newspaper in Gibraltar. His father Joe is the founder and editor of the paper. Garcia was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to politics and public service in Gibraltar.

Education

Political career

References

See also