The Nationalist Party has managed to clinch victory in St Paul's Bay after hours of tension, winning seven seats to Labour's six.
The locality has now swung to the PN after the Party managed to overcome the PL 500-vote majority in 2012.
Graziella Galea will be St Paul's Bay's mayor.
Daniel Grima was the final candidate to be elected by just 10 or 11 votes.
There was some tension in the counting hall on the St Paul's Bay result, as the outcome was too close to call.
Graziella Galea, David Thake, Anne Fenech, Robert Piscopo, Joseph Vella and Antoinette Bezzina and Daniel Grima have been elected for the PN, and Alfred Grima, Raymond Tabone, Paul Bugeja, Mandy Buhagiar, John Matthew Barbara and Stephen Cremona for the PL.
Earlier
The counting of votes continued overnight at the Naxxar counting hall, and 32 of the 34 councils have now been closed.
The Nationalist Party has retained its majority Mosta, retaining its majority in the hotly-contested town. The PN obtained 52.1% of the vote while Labour obtained 47.9%
Former PN MP Edwin Vassallo is the new mayor, having obtained 2,772 first count votes. There were scenes of jubilation inside the counting hall as Mr Vassallo, a former Parliamentary Secretary, was lifted up on shoulders.
The candidate with the closest votes to Edwin Vassallo is PL candidate Alex Muscat, who was elected with 2,378 1st count votes. PN candidates James Cassar, Keith Cassar, Ivan Bartolo, Karl Tanti, Gianluca Busuttil, Angele Rapa, as was Labour's Rachel Tua, Mario Sammut, Joseph Gatt, Maria Pia Bonnici and Mark Micallef.
Speaking with The Malta Independent, Edwin Vassallo said that this result shouldn’t be just a win for one party, but “a positive result for Mosta”.
“Election mode must stop and our opposition should not be the Labour Party, rather the work that still needs to be done”. He urged that there is no need for a Council to have a minority, however rather that both parties should work together as the Mosta Council”.
Asked for his thoughts on the previous Mayor's (Shirley Farrugia) controversy regarding a road report, The new Mayor said – “what happened in previous Councils is part of history and we should learn from it”. He stressed that he envisions a Council actively taking decisions and that decisions must be taken by Councillors and not technocrats”.
“It is a pity that after 20-odd years of Local Government we saw an election campaign focussing solely on roads and pavements. I hope all issues including the environment, healthcare, public services etc will be discussed next election”.
The locality of Floriana has been won by the Labour Party, breaking a tradition that for many years saw Floriana led by an independent mayor.
In Floriana, Davina Sammut for Labour with 323 votes (quota 229) and will be the new mayor and Matthew Paris for the PN with 240 votes were elected. For Labour, Vincent Borg and Ivan Hallet were also elected together with James Aaron Ellul for the the PN.
Official results for Floriana: PL 48.50 per cent, PN 32.58 per cent, Nigel Holland 9. 64 per cent (Independent), Publio Agius 9.28 per cent (Independent). The latter two were eliminated.
The Labour Party has lost a good chunk of its support in Kirkop. The reason for this is the candidature of former Labour mayor Mario Salerno, who is now an independent candidate. Mr Salerno obtained a sizeable amount of votes but was not elected.
Kirkop has elected 18-year-old Terence Agius (photo) as its mayor. Joseph Schembri and Antoinette Cefai were also elected for Labour. Stephen Mizzi and John Luke Cassar for the PN have also been elected for a 3-2 Labour win.
Popular Vittoriosa mayor John Boxall retained his seat in Vittoriosa with 884 votes. Mr Boxall has been mayor of this locality since 1994. The quota was 271 votes, which PN candidate Anton Gellel surpassed with 286 votes to also be elected. Trevor Mizzi and Eman Zerafa were elected for Labour as was Lawrence Attard for a 4-1 Labour win.
In Gharghur, Labour candidates Christopher Fenech and Carl Grech were elected with 345 and 298 votes respectively, while Giljan Aquilina (photo) and Mario Gauci were elected for the PN with 393 and 388 votes respectively. The PN will retain their 3-2 majorty as Mark Azzopardi was elected in the later counts. Aquilina becomes the new mayor of this locality, succeeding Gauci.
The official results for Gharghur are as follows. PN 57.41 per cent, PL 42.59 per cent.
In Iklin, Anthony Dalli was elected for the PN with 624 votes (quota was 347), while the Labour Party's Wilfred Buttigieg and Maris Azzopardi were also elected. The PN retained a 3-2 majority with Yvonne Bartolo and Dorian Sciberras being elected, the latter with just one more vote than Anthony Borg.
In Iklin, PN obtained 56.33 per cent, PL 43. 67 per cent.
In Safi, Pietru Pawl Busuttil (photo) obtained the highest number of votes for the PN with 329 (quota 243), but Labour elected two candidates in the first count with Francis Callus 283 and Johan Mula 305. Carlo Stivala was elected for Labour in subsequent counts. Joanne Abdilla for the PN completes the list of five councillors for a 3-2 Labour win.
Former PN Marsa mayor Frank Zammit (photo), now with the Labour party, has been elected for Labour with 487 votes, but Frans Debono was the overwhelming winner with 720 votes - he will be the mayor again - followed by Josef Azzopardi with 620 votes. Dominic Spencer has also been elected for Labour and and Jean Paul Zammit was elected for the PN, for a 4-1 victory.
In Marsaxlokk, Horace Gauci was elected for Labour with 516 votes, followed by Steven Grech, Stephen Caruana and Daniel Zerafa also for Labour. Janice Chetcuti was elected for the Nationalist Party.
In Dingli, Sandro Azzopardi was elected for Labour with 640 votes (quota 425), pipping Raymond Schembri who obtained 587 votes. Rachell Powell was also elected for Labour as was Paul Mamo. David Vassallo was elected for the PN with 664 votes to retain just one seat for the PN as against Labour's four.
In Balzan, the only Labour candidate to contest, Desmond Zammit Marmara, was elected with 568 votes. But four Nationalist candidates out of the eight elected gave the PN a 4-1 majority. Ian Spiteri has been elected for the PN, as was Ian Spiteri, Andre Grech and Joseph Mary Galea.
In Santa Lucija, Terrence Ellul was elected mayor for the PL with 543 votes, followed by Frederick Cutajar with 484 votes. Joseph Bonello completed the PL line up while Liam Sciberras and Caroline Galea were elected for the PN. The Nationalist Party has managed to win a second seat in this locality for the first time in ten years, with Liam Sciberras taking the other seat for the PN.
In Gzira, Wayne Hewitt (photo) obtained the largest number of votes for the PN with 638 votes, followed by Graziella Schembri with 578 votes. Conrad Borg Manche, Neville Chetcuti, Joseph Galea and Ralph Mangion were elected for Labour. Jeremy Cardona was also elected for the PN for a 4-3 win for Labour.
In Attard, mayor Stefan Cordina has retained retain his seat in the locality for the PN. Marco Spiteri has been confirmed as deputy mayor. Raymon Azzopardi has been elected for the PL. Marisa Abela, Alex Mangion, John Debono and Connie Scerri were elected for the PN, while Alfred Zammit was elected for Labour. Ralph Cassar was the only Alternattiva Demokratika candidate to win a seat in this election, for a line-up of 6 seats for PN, two for Labour and one for AD.
In Siggiewi, Karol Aquilina has been confirmed as mayor with 1,753 votes, while Clayton Cutajar has been elected for Labour. Julian Borg (PN) and Alessia Psaila Zammit (PN) have also been elected. Dominic Grech and Nicholas Cassar were elected for Labour, as was Gillian Farrugia Pace for the PN for a 4-3 PN majority.
Karl Gouder has become St Julian's mayor with 1,040 votes, while Guido Dalli is to be his deputy with 698 votes. Martin Sultana (PL), John Agius (PL) and Albert Buttigieg (PN) were also elected. Adrian Ellul was later elected for Labour, while PN candidates won the remaining three seats - Rita Dimech Portelli, Clayton Luke Mula and Clayton Tanti Gregoracci gave the PN a 6-3 majority.
In Senglea, Joseph Casha, Anthony Bonavia, Chris Cocker and Clive Puli were elected for Labour and Malcolm Gatt was elected for the PN. Mr Casha is the mayor.
In Birzebbuga, three PL candidates have been elected: Kevin Barun (photo), Joe Cutajar and Joseph Baldacchino. Leanne Grech and Josepha Busuttil were later elected for the PL. Stanley Zammit and Herman Schiavone were elected for the PN.
In Hamrun, Christian Sammut, Vince Bonello and Carmen Borg (all PL) and Antonello Cuschieri and Louise Tedesco (PN) have been elected, followed by Carl Jurgen Grixti (PL) and Efrem Buttigieg (PN) for a 4-3 win for Labour.. Mr Sammut was elected Mayor with 1,512 first count votes.
In Luqa, five Labour councillors have been elected: John Schembri, Denise Cutajar, Kearon Bruno, Eric Camilleri and Lucia Massa. Elaine Camilleri and Victor Caruana were elected for the PN for a 5-2 Labour majority.
In Paola, Dominic Grima (photo), Steven Axisa, Roderick Spiteri, Nicholas Seychell and Sean Lynch Bernard were elected for Labour, with Tyrone Muscat and Ivan Bartolo following up for the PN for a 5-2 Labour win.
In Qormi, Ralph Puli for the PN, outgoing mayor Rosianne Cutajar (PL), Jesmond Aquilina (PL), Bjorn Azzopardi (PL) and Jerome Caruana Cilia (PN) were elected. Renald Falzon and Josef Aquilina later made the grade for Labour, with Robert Cremona, Martina Brancaleone and Antoine Saliba Haig following suit for the PN. Marvin Zammit was the last candidate to be elected for Labour for a 6-5 win.
In Swieqi, Noel Muscat, Paul Fenech, Justin Fenech, Alfred Curmi, Teresa Valentino, Mauro Miceli and Maryanne Abela for the PN were elected, while Alexander Chetcuti and Mario Fava were elected for the PL for a 7-2 PN majority.
In Zurrieq, Ignatius Farrugia, Rita Grima, Tiffany Farrugia, Joseph D'Amato, Kenneth Farrugia and Jean Pierre Attard were elected for Labour. Pierre Farrugia,David Farrugia and Dino Bonnici were elected for the PN.
In Zebbug, Sarah Agius, Clive Azzopardi, Alfred Grixti, Vernalise Bartolo and Christopher Bongailas were elected for Labour, while Roderick Aquilina, George Cortis, Kevin Glynn and Philip Said were elected for PN.