General elections were held in
Gibraltar on 24 March 1988. The elections were a watershed in
Gibraltar politics, as they saw the first win by the
Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP), led by
Joe Bossano, whose candidates took 58% of the popular vote and eight of the fifteen seats available in the
Gibraltar House of Assembly. Bossano's party took control away from the
Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR), under outgoing
Chief MinisterAdolfo Canepa. The AACR had been the dominant political party in Gibraltar politics for over forty years and had won every election but one since 1945. After this, it was never to win another general election, while Bossano was to remain in office continuously for eight years, from 25 March 1988 to 17 May 1996.