Claudette Abela Baldacchino (born February 17, 1973) is a Maltese politician and journalist who has served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2013 to 2014. In Malta, she represents the Labour Party,[1][2] where she was president of the Women's Group known as Nisa Laburisti from 2014 until 2018.[3]
Born on 17 February 1973, Claudette Abela Baldacchino was brought up in the village of Qrendi in southwestern Malta. In addition to a degree in social studies (1999), she is also a graduate in social administration (2005). From 1995, she worked as a journalist and new presenter for Maltese radio and television.[1] In the 2000s, she served as reporter in the Maltese Community of the Regions,[clarification needed] taking a special interest in Social Europe and stressing that the most important issue for her was people rather than money.[2]
In 2013, Abela Baldacchino was prominent in the press as a result of her standing for the European Parliament elections while facing criminal charges of fraud in connection with travel payments she had claimed.[4][5] She was subsequently cleared on this on 15 September 2021, in a lengthy court case presided by magistrate Josette Demicoli.[6]
On 5 February 2024, Abela Baldacchino announced that she would be running for a seat on behalf of Malta's Labour Party in the European Parliament elections taking place in June.[7]
