Christian Workers' Party

The party was established in 1961 by Toni Pellegrini, a former secretary general of the Labour Party.[1] Pellegrini had fallen out with Dom Mintoff during the 1961 politico-religious crisis, and the new party was a direct answer to Mintoff's dispute with the Catholic Church in Malta then led by Archbishop Michael Gonzi. It was designed to attract the Catholic vote of traditional Labourites refused to vote for Mintoff's Labour Party due to its anticlerical stance.[1] It was often cited to be a resurrection of the (Catholic) Labour Party founded in 1921 by Michael Gonzi and sought to expound Catholic (leftist) social teaching. Its other aim was to deny Mintoff's party as many votes as possible and still be a party loyal both to the Church and the Queen.

Even if peace with the Church and the Labour Party was not to be achieved until 1969, the interdict had been lifted in 1964 (but still the ecclesiastical ban on Labour newspapers remained in force while it was still a mortal sin for the faithful to attend Labour Party meetings). As a direct result, Mintoff increased his party's share of the vote at the expense of the CWP. The 1966 election results were catastrophic for the CWP, which saw its vote share reduced to 6%, resulting in it losing all four seats. Following the elections, the party was dissolved.[1] Pellegrini was later readmitted into the Labour Party and became a director of Xandir Malta. The result was also catastrophic for the catholic church in Malta which saw its hold on the Maltese electorate loosening.

The CWP was pro-church and anticommunist. It supported independence from the United Kingdom by a gradual process of economic development. It wanted to reduce economic dependence on the British military presence and to abolish direct taxation in order to become a tax haven[1]