Saint Vincent and the Grenadines PM Gonsalves wins his fifth consecutive term
Unity Labour Party dominates election results
In an precedented victory, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has secured his position as the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister for the fifth consecutive term.
Gonsalves led the Unity Labour Party (ULP), which won nine of the 15 seats in the Parliament, according to the preliminary figures released by the electoral office from Thursday’s general election.
ULP snatched three more seats for the party compared to the one-seat majority in the past two general elections. The ruling party’s record win is the first in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The 74-year-old Gonsalves won his North Central Windward seat he has held since 2001. He defeated two other candidates—Chieftain Neptune of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and Kadmiel McFee of the CVG Green Party.
Here are the rest of the ULP members who were chosen by the majority of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines voters during the November 5 polls:
- Daniel Montgomery – North Windward
- Caesar Saboto – South Central Windward
- Camillo Gonsalves- East St. George
- St. Clair “Jimmy” Prince – Marriaqua
- Stephenson Frederick – South Windward
- Orando Brewster – Central Leeward
- Curtis King – West. St. George
- Carlos James – North Leeward
Meanwhile, NDP leader Dr. Godwin Friday easily retained the Northern Grenadines seat he has been representing since 2001. The 61-year-old politician, who for the first time led the party into a general election, polled an overwhelming 2,123 votes against ULP’s Carlos Williams with 458.
Neither Prime Minister Gonsalves nor Friday has made any public statement following the results, although Gonsalves has already expressed his gratitude for the trust that has been given to him for the fifth time in a row.
“I am humbled beyond words. Thank you for your faith and confidence,” Gonsalves said on his official Facebook page.
Regional political scientist and commentator, Peter Wickham, declared that the result is “historic first in the region.”
“He (Gonsalves) has outdone former St. Kitts-Nevis prime minister Dr. Denzil Douglas, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrt and even P.J. Patterson in Jamaica. So it is something significant,” Wickham was reported to say on the state-owned NBC Radio in Barbados.