I was pleased today to meet with the team, led by Hadleigh Roberts, who volunteered to act as Domestic Observers for our recent General Election. They presented me with a copy of their report, which confirmed that the election was entirely legitimate and credible. We have a strong reputation in the Cayman Islands for holding free and fair elections and I am delighted that this one was no different. The report confirms that the elections were organised to a very high standard and rightly point out that the Elections Supervisor and his team deserve praise for organising the poll effectively and transparently.

The report makes 23 recommendations for improvements to the elections process. The report from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the International Observers who carried out remote monitoring of the election, will be published in the second half of June. It will be for the Government and Parliament to consider how they plan to take forward both sets of recommendations.

I am most grateful to the Domestic Observers for all of their hard work in producing their report, not least because they were only appointed when it became clear that the team of International Observers could not be physically present because of the global pandemic. As a result, their preparation time was limited. The Observers gave up their time freely to support our democracy and I express the community’s gratitude to them for their valuable service.