Herrera, José
Name: Hon. José Herrera
Years active: 1996-
Party: The Labour Party
Address: Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business
Roles
- Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government and Culture: 2013 - 2014
- Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth: 2014-
Education
José Herrera was born in 1961 in Sliema. He was educated at St Aloysius College and went on to graduate from the University of Malta as Notary Public in 1985 and then as Lawyer in 1986.
History
He is a lawyer and has served as a Member of Parliament for 17 years. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Culture and Local Government in March 2013 by the Prime Minister of Malta, Dr Joseph Muscat, following the Labour Party’s election victory. For 27 years Hon. Herrera practiced his profession as a lawyer, owing a legal office, specializing in criminal law. He involved himself early in politics. Hon. Herrera served as a member and, later, Assistant General Secretary of the University’s Students’ Representative Council.
He was elected the first time he stood for Parliament in 1996, as a Labour Party candidate in the 1st District. He has been returned at every general election since then. His first front bench role was as Labour’s spokesperson for the Central Bank, Financial Services and Maritime Affairs. He was a member of the Maltese and EU Joint Committee between 1996 and 1998, as well as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and European Affairs. He was also a member of the Labour Party’s Executive Group, where he represented the Parliamentary Group. During the 2008 – 2013 legislature, Hon. Herrera served as a Shadow Minister for Justice and actively participated as a member of the Committee for the Ratification of Legislations. In his current role Hon. Herrera is responsible for all Local Government, together with Culture, Heritage and Restoration. He is also responsible for Valletta 2018 as the European Capital of Culture. Throughout his political career, he has attended various international conferences, and was in the first group of Maltese Members of Parliament to take part in a preliminary session of the European Parliament, held in Strasbourg.
