Roberta Metsola elected new president of European Parliament

Roberta Metsola has been elected to succeed David Sassoli as the president of the European Parliament. Winning an absolute majority of 458 votes.

Metsola, a member of the right-wing EPP group from Malta, was among four candidates for the position, alongside Spain's Sira Rego (radical left), Poland's Kosma Zlotowski (ECR, Eurosceptics) and Sweden's Alice Bah Kuhnke (Greens).

Alice was the closest contender, winning 101 votes, with Sira winning 58.

Each made their case to their fellow MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday to succeed Sassoli, who died on 11 January and whose term of office ended this week.

Metsola has been an MEP since 2013 and a vice-president of the Parliament since 2020. The conservative lawmaker recently gained visibility by taking over from Sassoli, who was absent from the Chamber for several weeks due to illness.