Gzira Mayor Conrad Borg Manche, who resigned from the Labour Party in October, will be contesting the upcoming European Parliament elections and the local council elections as an independent candidate.

Last October, Borg Manché resigned from the Labour Party last year while clashing with his party against plans to build a petrol station into a public garden. He had, announcing his resignation from the party, said that the party left him no other path to take but to resign. He had remained on as Mayor of the locality.

Speaking to The Malta Independent, Borg Manche said that he had a lot of support from people to contest, and he decided to go for it. "There is a lot of concern regarding where the country is going," he said. 

"I did things many others wouldn't be capable of doing, having even fought against my own government for the people (...) everyone knows the reasons why I resigned from the Labour Party, and nobody told me I didn't have a point."

Asked what his main issues are going to be, he said family issues, mentioning his work in family law, and environmental issues. On the latter, he said "nothing is being addressed locally," and said that his local council is probably the only council making "a big effort on the environment", mentioning even holding meetings with organisations from other EU countries on this topic.