CARIBBEAN ELECTIONS 2025: A YEAR OF POLITICAL DRAMA

An interesting trend has emerged in Caribbean elections this year.

In an overwhelming number of instances across the English-speaking Caribbean, winning parties have come close to obliterating the opposition. In cases where ruling parties have retained power, the opposition has been decimated and relegated to a severely reduced number of representatives - sometimes just one!

ST LUCIA(December): The ruling St Lucia Labour Party(SLU) of Prime Minister Philip J Pierre won a second term with an overwhelming 14 of the 17 seats, relegating the main opposition United Workers Party(UWP) to just one seat. The other two seats are held by independent MPs. Voter turnout was 48 per cent.

ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES(November): Of 15 seats at stake, the only seat not swept up by the (then-opposition) New Democratic Party(NDP) was that of now-ex prime minister Ralph Gonsalves of the Unity Labour Party(ULP). Dr Gonsalves seeking a sixth straight term as Prime Minister, was forced to hand over power to first time Prime Minister Godwin Friday(NDP). Voter turnout was 62 per cent.

GUYANA(September): President Dr Irfaan Ali led his People’s Progressive Party/Civic coalition (PPP/C) to victory consolidating its hold on power. Of the 65 seats in the National Assembly, they won 36. The new We Invest in Nationhood(WIN) grabbed 16 seats and pushed the previous opposition Partnership for National Alliance coalition into third place with 12 seats. The other seat was taken by the Forward Guyana Movement. Voter turnout was 58 per cent, down from 73 per cent in the previous election.

JAMAICA(September): The Jamaica Labour Party(JLP) under Prime Minister Andrew Holness secured a third consecutive term capturing 35 of the 65 seats, with the other 28 going to the opposition People’s National Party(PNP). Voter turnout was an abysmal 39.5 per cent.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO(April): Then-prime minister Keith Rowley had voluntarily relinquished his post just one month earlier to the relatively unknown Stuart Young who called elections in April. The main opposition United National Congress(UNC) back under the leadership of ex-prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar snapped up 26 of the 41 seats with the PNM only holding on to 13. The other two seats (in Tobago) went to the Tobago Peoples Party(TPP). Voter turnout was 54 per cent.

CAYMAN ISLANDS(April): Of 19 seats at stake in the April election, the main opposition People’s Progressive Movement(PPP/Progressives) secured seven but ended in opposition. The Cayman Community Party(TCCP) and the Cayman Islands National Party(CINP) - four seats each, along with three independents instead formed a coalition government with their 11 seats. TCCP’s Andre Ebanks became Premier. PPP/Progressives and an independent MP form the opposition. Voter turnout was 73 per cent.

TURKS & CAICOS(February): Premier Washington Missick’s Progressive National Party(PNP) held on to power with 16 of the 19 elected seats, two more than the previous election. The other three went to the People’s Democratic Movement(PDM). Voter turnout was 74 per cent.

ANGUILLA(February): New Premier and new leader of the Anguilla United Front(AUF) Cora Richardson led her party to a seven seat win in the House of Assembly, becoming that territory’s first female leader. The other three seats went to the former ruling Anguilla Progressive Movement(APM) of ex-premier Dr Ellis Webster. Voter turnout was 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the previous years…

In Barbados, the ruling Barbados Labour Party(BLP) of Prime Minister Mia Mottley again swept the polls in 2022 as it did in 2018 winning all 30 seats.

In the Bahamas(2021), the Progressive Liberal Party(PLP) of Prime Minister Phillip Davis snapped up 32 of the 39 seats.

2018 saw the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party(ABLP) under Gaston Browne sweep 15 of the 17 seats, but lost six seats in 2023 holding on to nine to retain the government.

In Grenada, 2022 saw the National Democratic Party(NDP) under Dickon Mitchell bouncing back from a wipe-out in 2018, winning nine seats of the 15 seats to form the government.

In Dominica, the United Workers Party(UWP) boycotted the 2022 election giving the ruling Dominica Labour Party(DLP) of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit having a supermajority of 19 of the 21 seats and extending its residence in office since 2004.

October 2024 in Montserrat, Reuben Meade came out of political retirement to guide his new United Alliance(UA) to power in a decisive victory over his former party, the then-ruling Movement for Change and Prosperity(MCAP). Meade, himself a former MCAP Premier, also defeated the opposition People’s Democratic Movement(PDM) and brought the only victorious MCAP candidate into his government.

In the British Virgin Islands, the 2023 poll saw the ruling Virgin Islands Party(VIP) winning six of the 13 seats. The Progressive Virgin Islands Movement(PVIM) and the National Democratic Party(NDP) each won three seats, and Progressives United (PU) one. The VIP cemented its majority with the support of Lorna Smith of the NDP(once led by her husband, ex-premier Dr Orlando Smith).