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Dr José A. Herrera is a member of the Maltese government. He is a lawyer and has served as a Member of Parliament for 20 years.
Hon. Herrera was appointed as Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development, and Climate Change in April 2016.
He was previously appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth in April 2014 and 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.
Hon. Dr José A. Herrera was born on the 16th November 1961 in Sliema. He is the son of the late Judge Joseph Alexander Herrera and Marguerite, nee Galea. 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.
For 27 years Hon. Herrera practiced his profession as a lawyer, owning 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.
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.
Minister José Herrera is married to Alexandra, nee Camilleri Ellul Bonici, and together they have two children, Miguel and Martina.