Caption: Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley 

Summary

• Prime Minister Mia Mottley led the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to a third parliamentary clean sweep, winning all 30 seats again.
• She became only the second Caribbean leader to achieve three all-seat victories, after Grenada’s Dr Keith Mitchell.
• Mottley retained St Michael North East and said the new Cabinet should be sworn in Monday, with Parliament to sit next Friday.
• She called for unity, continued national transformation, and stronger democratic institutions, including a viable opposition.
• The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) suffered another heavy defeat, prompting internal calls for reform and leadership change.

BRIDGETOWN – PRIME Minister Mia Mottley has become only the second Caribbean politician to win all the seats in a national parliament on three occasions, after leading the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to another clean sweep in the Barbados general election.

Mottley, 60, follows former Grenada prime minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who earlier this year announced he was bowing out of active politics after becoming the first regional leader to win all the seats in his country’s Parliament three times. Unlike Mitchell, however, Mottley—now the first party leader to win three consecutive terms in office—has also led the BLP to consecutive clean sweeps since first winning all 30 seats in the Barbados Parliament when she became the country’s first female prime minister following the May 24, 2018 general election.

“We are humbled by your confidence and trust. Thank you. Let us now come together as one people to continue building our nation,” the BLP said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

In Wednesday’s general election, Mottley comfortably retained her St. Michael North East seat. She later told supporters gathered at the party’s headquarters in the capital, Bridgetown, that her new Cabinet is expected to be sworn in on Monday, with the first sitting of the new Parliament scheduled for next Friday.

“Something special happened in the country today,” Mottley said, ahead of a planned thank-you rally on Saturday.

She recalled that when she first won the general election in 2018, she told Barbadians her administration would “work hard” to stabilise the country.

“We thought we would move to a growth path,” she said, noting that soon after coming into office Barbados, like the rest of the world, had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two and a half years, she said, the government has embarked on a mission to transform the country.

“We did not come to hold office; we came to make Barbados better and your lives better,” she said, noting that next month the BLP will celebrate its 88th year as a political organisation.

Mottley, an attorney, said the party and government remain focused on what “Barbadians want us to focus on,” while warning of challenges in ensuring the country’s democracy remains intact as it approaches the 60th anniversary of political independence and its fifth year as a republic.

She said Barbadians must also accept responsibility for the country’s transformation, and that everyone must work together to address local and geopolitical challenges.

Mottley also said she was concerned about the state of the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP), insisting Barbados needs “strong institutions.” She recalled her efforts to have the party represented in the Senate following the previous two resounding defeats.

Meanwhile, DLP leader Ralph Thorne was defeated in the St. John constituency, polling 1,876 votes to 2,327 for the winner, Charles Griffith of the BLP, and 236 for independent candidate Kemar Stuart.

Thorne—who was elected to represent Christ Church South for the BLP in the last general election but crossed the floor to become Opposition Leader—said of the latest defeat: “We acquitted ourselves well [and] fought a clean campaign.

“The result is quite disappointing; [I have] no explanation for it,” he said, as he conceded defeat.

On Wednesday, he complained of being unable to cast his ballot, telling reporters that he had resided in Christ Church East for more than 20 years.

He said he was being told to go to another constituency to vote. “But the position I take is that to vote in Rendezvous is to commit fraud, certainly as it relates to my address.

“So I consider that I have been denied the right to vote due to an administrative error by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” he told reporters.

But university lecturer and former DLP president Dr. Ronnie Yearwood said the electorate had sent yet another “clear message” to the party.

“You can’t lose three times in this way and believe [in] what you are doing,” Yearwood said, urging the party to reform itself.

“This is not where we want to be…but the public has given the party a third defeat.”

Political scientist and pollster Peter Wickham said that while the ruling BLP has “grown and evolved,” the same cannot be said of the DLP.

He said the election result is “more about the DLP and what it has to do,” adding: “It has to make hard decisions.”

Wickham described the DLP’s campaign as “horrible” and said the leader has to step down.

“The party has to start looking for a new leader and identify new talent,” he added.

For the first time in its political history, the general election was observed by foreign observer teams from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Commonwealth. (CMC)