INTENSE CAMPAIGN FOR BARBADOS FEBRUARY 11th SNAP ELECTION

By Staff Writer

By next Tuesday it will be known just how many parties and candidates will contest the Barbados snap elections scheduled for February 11th.

Nomination Day is Tuesday, January 27th, and already the ruling Barbados Labour Party(BLP) led by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, has announced its full slate of 30 candidates, with the main opposition Democratic Labour Party(DLP) also announcing that it too will contest all 30 seats at stake. In the 2022 election the BLP swept all seats, leaving the DLP out of the Barbados Parliament, the third-oldest legislature in the Americas.

One candidate who ran with the victorious BLP eventually crossed the floor to occupy the sole seat on the Opposition benches.

Just a few days ago, three smaller parties announced that they will be joining forces to contest this year’s election. The United Progressive Party (UPP), the New National Party (NNP), and the Conservative Barbados Leadership Party (CBLP) have formed a new coalition called the People’s Coalition for Progress (PCP). It was not immediately clear if they will contest all 30 seats. The PCP is already saying that the Barbados Parliament is too large at 30 seats for a population of around 283,000.

An early indication of the intensity of the short campaign ahead came when Prime Minister Mottley announced the snap election date last Saturday night January 17th during a party rally.

“We are all turning up for work in 2026. We are all turning up for work in 2026, because if something can be done, it is this Barbados Labour Party that will do it, always, always, always,” she thundered to huge applause from the party faithful.

Ms Mottley, who has developed a prominent international political profile during her period at the top of Barbados politics, is being challenged by the main opposition DLP for taking her eye off the ball locally they claim.

“People empowerment must come before international praise. Accountability and transparency must come before PR(public relations) and optics,” said new DLP leader Ralph Thorne. He said his party has been in a process of regrouping and rebuilding following its humiliating defeat in the 2022 election.

The Barbados Parliament was dissolved this past Monday January 19th, with Nomination Day set for January 27th allowing only for a short and expected intense two-week election campaign before voters go to the polls on February 11th.

The campaign is expected to focus mainly on the economic management of the country by the ruling BLP. Barbados is rated as a high-income economy based on tourism, international business, and foreign direct investment. The country, which has a small manufacturing sector, has largely transitioned away from agriculture, although it maintains a niche sugar cane industry for rum production, alongside fisheries and livestock. Barbados also has a diverse small business sector that caters to the local market and the tourist industry. It has also been looking at developing its potential in the oil industry. Economic growth has averaged between three and five per cent per annum over the past few years according to national and World Bank records.