Simon Busuttil, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Party, resigned after the 2017 election and was replaced by Adrian Delia.

Muscat was faced with a political crisis and mass protests in 2019, after which he resigned as prime minister in January 2020.

The Labour Party retained its majority in parliament, winning a third consecutive election for the first time since 1981 with 55.11% of the popular vote, the largest share since 1955, marginally surpassing the 55.04% it scored in 2017.

As a result of a constitutional amendment, Article 52(A), passed before the elections, twelve seats were added to the House of Representatives and were given to women from both parties, so as to limit male dominance.

The previous election, which was held in June 2017, saw the Labour Party, which has governed the country since 2013, receive 55% of the popular vote and win 37 out of 67 seats in the House of Representatives.

[2] Despite the allegations of corruption towards Joseph Muscat, who had served as Prime Minister of Malta since 2013, the confidence of the government was renewed in this election.

[3][4] Following the election, Simon Busuttil resigned as leader of the Nationalist Party, and was replaced by Adrian Delia.

[5][6] Daphne Caruana Galizia, a writer and anti-corruption activist who exposed Labour Party politicians Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri after being named in the Panama Papers leak, was assassinated in October 2017 in a car bomb attack.

[14] Robert Abela won the subsequent Labour Party leadership election, defeating Chris Fearne.

[19] However, after not being included in Abela's new cabinet, Deputy Labour Party leader Chris Cardona resigned and retired from politics.

[20] In October 2020, Delia lost the leadership election to Bernard Grech, who then succeeded him as leader of the parliamentary opposition.

[28] During the last legislature a gender-corrective mechanism was introduced, with Article 52A of the Constitution stating that provides for up to 12 additional seats for unelected candidates from "the under-represented sex" in case one of both makes up less than 40% of the elected MPs.

[51] According to journalist Julian Bonnici, it was also noted that events that caused the 2019 political crisis and 2019–2020 protests, had "exhausted the voters".

[52] Moreover, the outcome was seemed to be already given, with polls indicating another Labour Party victory, but also with the Russian invasion of Ukraine overshadowing the electoral campaign events.

[70] In mid-March, the Labour Party released its election manifesto, which included investments in green urban areas, an extension to free child care to all, and slashing corporate tax rates.

[78][79] In March, the Nationalist Party also stated its support for creating free permits, licences and government services for feast organisers.

[95] Ivan Grech Mintoff, who previously served as the chairman of Alliance of Change, formed the religious-right ABBA in 2021.

[101] Perennial candidate Nazzareno Bonnici threw his hat into the ring by mentioning that he will be running for elections on the "Eagle Party" ticket.

[118] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) noted that the election was organised "efficiently", although it noted that "its transparency was diminished by limited access to Electoral Commission activities, the lack of regulations allowing for election observation and limited oversight of and access to information on party and campaign financing".