The final day of vote counting for the 2019 local council elections has begun.

The PN lost two major localities today, Mosta and Siggiewi, but retained Naxxar.

In a phone interview with One TV, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat expressed his satisfaction with the results in these elections.

He called it a historical moment in Maltese history. He was extremely happy to see the Labour Party win a number of major localities like Siggiewi, Mosta and the capital city, Valletta. “The results this evening means that the Labour Party received  58% of the total votes, while the PN received 40%." He said the PL received over 47,100 more votes than the PN.  

The Labour Party has won a majority of 47 councils, whilst the PN retained control of 19. 

“Well done to all the new PL councillors" he said.

Live blog:

That brings an end to the final live blog for these local council elections. 

The Electoral Commissioner Joseph Church came in to the press room to round off the day.

 

9.35pm: Some good news for the PN, as they hold onto Naxxxar winning 5 seats to the PL's 4. the PN also held on to Attard with 6 seats to the PL's 3.

9.30pm:  The PL has won a total of 7 seats in Qormi, with the PN winning just 4.

9pm: It's official, the PL has gained control of Mosta, winning 7 seats to the PN's 6.

8.52pm: The PN has officially lost control of Siggiewi, the locality where PN Leader Adrian Delia lives. The PL won 4 seats and the PN won 3.

8.47pm: The PL won the Hamrun local council with 5 seats to the PN's 2. The PL also won Santa Lucija with 4 seats to the PN's 1.

8.31pm: While the result is not yet official, PL agents gathered near the table where the votes for Mosta were counted and began cheering, singing and celebrating, indicating that the locality has switched from PN to PL. 

8.28pm: PL agents are saying that, in terms of votes, the party won more first count votes than the PN is Siggiewi. This locality is where PN Leader Adrian Delia lives. The official result is not yet known and there is no indication in terms of who will take the majority of seats.

8.19pm: The Luqa council remains with a PL majority, with the party beating the PN 5 seats to 2. John Schembri will be the mayor.

8.15pm: Safi has gone to the PL, who won the locality with 3 seats to the PN's 2. The PN has held on to Gharghur with 3 seats out of the 5 - the other 2 went to the PL.

8pm: Gzira has once again gone to the PL, who won 5 seats to the PN's 4. Conrad Borg Manche has remained Mayor.

7.50pm: The PL has won Qala with 3 seats to the PN's 2. The PL also won Kirkop with 3 seats to the PN's 2.

7.41pm: The PN has retained Swieqi winning 7 of the 9 seats. Noel Muscat remains Mayor. In a rare site during these elections, the PN agents were seen celebrating this win.

7.40pm: In terms of Zebbug Gozo, the PN has lost the majority winning 2 seats. The PL won 2 seats and the last seat went to an independent candidate - Nicky Saliba - who is a former PN mayor.

7.30pm: The PL has won 4 of the five seats in Xghajra, with the last seat going PN. The PL also won 3 of the 5 seats in Imtarfa, with the PN winning 2.

7.19pm: Floriana has remained a PL led local council, with the PL winning 3 seats. The PN won 2 seats. 

7.15pm: The PL has won 4 of the 5 seats in Birgu.

6.56pm: The PL retained a strong lead in Senglea, taking 4 of the 5 seats, with the final seat going to the PN. The PN has also retained their 3-2 seat majority in Kercem.

6.45pm: In a brief interview with The Malta Independent, Deputy Prime Minister and PL Deputy Leader Chris Fearne said that the PL is seeing victories across both Malta and Gozo in these elections. “This confirms that the PL is a party for all people and a party that belongs to all of Malta and Gozo.”

Commenting on yesterday’s victory over Valletta, he called it extraordinary.

As for today, he said we are still at the beginning of the day but “we are already seeing that we will continue the same trend we saw over the past two days.”

6.43pm: The PN has also held on to Munxar (Gozo) with 3 seats to the PL's 2. This is the first locality in these elections that the PN took from the PL.

6.28pm: The first result is in. The PN has retained control of San Lawrenz (Gozo), with 4 seats to the PL's 1. The mayor, Noel Formosa, told this newsroom that tomorrow will mark the 25th year he has been a mayor.

5.50pm: The second stage has already ended on some of the smaller localities, whose votes are now being scanned.

5.40pm: The second stage, where the electoral commission vote counters raise the votes so that the party agents can see them, has begun. Rumours around the counting hall are that the PN is concerned about possibly losing Mosta and Siggiewi - the locality where PN Leader Adrian Delia lives.

4.50pm: Party counting agents have arrived and are beginning to fill up the hall.

3pm: The first phase, where the votes are taken out of the ballot boxes and placed face down is underway.

For the first time ever, all local councils held elections at the same time. As a result, they were divided up into batches of three, with the final batch having their votes counted today.

The Labour Party has seen extensive success so far, holding on to their councils, whilst making gains, taking Valletta for the first time, as well as taking St Paul's Bay and San Gwann. The PN is not doing well.

The full list of localities having their votes counted today are: Swieqi, Attard, Qormi, Naxxar, Mosta, Floriana, Luqa, Isla, Gharghur, Hamrun, Kirkop Gzira, Santa Lucija, Siggiewi, Xghajra, Mtarfa, San Lawrenz, Safi, Birgu, Munxar, Kercem, Zebbug (Gozo), and Qala - will be decided on Friday.

Mosta and Siggiewi are definitely worth keeping an eye upon.

Wednesday's results can be found here, and Thursday's here.

The Malta Independent will keep you up to date with the latest ongoings from the Naxxar counting hall.