St. K-N: General Election revealed the Team Unity administration is more popular than ever
| June 10th, 2020 Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris’ Team Unity administration has more supporters than ever, as evidenced by the recent general election in St. Kitts and Nevis. Not only did Team Unity pick up two more parliamentary seats, increasing its tally to nine out of a total of 11, but individual candidates and the three political parties that make up the coalition government achieved a sizeable swing in their favour – a sign that the successful policies of Prime Minister Harris’ administration over the past five years have swayed some voters away from the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP). “We made history by winning the largest share of the vote this time around, securing a national swing to Team Unity of around six percent. We made history in my own constituency (#7) with a swing of 10 percent, making it the strongest results of my 27 years representing the good people of Belle Vue to Ottley’s,” the Prime Minister said at his swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, June 7th, 2020, referring to Team Unity, which is comprised of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) in Nevis, the People’s Action Movement (PAM) and the People’s Labour Party (PLP) both in St. Kitts. Perhaps one of the most significant indicators of Team Unity’s expanded popularity is the noteworthy performance by Kevin “Ninky” Williams of the People’s Labour Party in Constituency #6 (Newton Ground to Harris’). Prime Minister Harris noted on Sunday that, “He was confirmed as our candidate less than three weeks before the election, and he secured a 15 percent swing to Team Unity, proving that there were plenty of people willing to try something different in Constituency #6, the heartland of Labour. If such a dramatic shift can come in three weeks by a new candidate, the future for Team Unity looks bright.” “Again, for only the second time in our history, somebody [other than a St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party candidate] has broken the 400 mark [in Constituency #6],” election night analyst Mr. Tony Nias said during a live broadcast on ZIZ. In the June 21st, 1984 general election, Mr. R.L. Caines of PAM received 430 votes in the contest against Mr. C.E. Mills of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party who won the Constituency #6 seat with 1,376 votes. During last Friday’s general election, Mr. Kevin “Ninky” Williams received 476 votes in the contest against the leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party who won the seat with 1,563 votes. Then there is Constituency #3 (West Basseterre), which has been a St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party stronghold for more than 60 years – but that changed on Friday when Mrs. Akilah Byron-Nisbett of PLP defeated Mr. Konris Maynard. Mrs. Byron-Nisbett received 52 percent (1,342 votes) of the vote share. Also of note is that Mr. Jonel Powell of PAM won Constituency #2 (Central Basseterre) on Friday. Before that, the last time Central Basseterre changed hands from the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party to the People’s Action Movement was in the general election of November 29th, 1993 when Dr. the Right Excellent and Right Honourable Sir Kennedy Simmonds won the seat. Constituency #2 returned to Labour with Mr. G.A. Dwyer Astaphan’s victory in that seat on July 3rd, 1995. It remained a St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party stronghold for the next 20 years, but that changed on Friday when Ms. Marcella Liburd lost her seat. |
