General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 11 December 2006. The elections were fought between the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and the United Workers Party (UWP), which between them dominated politics in Saint Lucia. The results saw the governing Saint Lucia Labour Party lose the election to the United Workers Party led by John Compton, which gained eight seats to hold an eleven to six majority.
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All 17 seats in the House of Assembly 9 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 58.46% ( 5.73pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.svg) Results by constituency. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editThe last two elections in 1997 and 2001 had seen victories for the Saint Lucia Labour Party with the previous election in 2001 seeing them win 14 seats to only 3 for the United Workers Party.[1]
However in 2005 John Compton came out of retirement to become leader of the opposition United Workers Party again. Compton had led Saint Lucia to independence in 1979 and then been prime minister from 1982 until he resigned in 1996.[2][3] Compton defeated Vaughan Lewis in an election for the leadership of the United Workers Party with Lewis later defecting from the UWP to fight the 2006 election for the Saint Lucia labour Party.[4]
A by-election in Castries Central in March 2006 was seen as starting a long campaign for the election due in December.[5] The by-election was won by an Independent candidate Richard Frederick in a seat which the Saint Lucia Labour Party had won in the last two elections.[6] Frederick would later join the United Workers Party and stood for the party in the general election.[5]
Campaign
edit
In the campaign the United Workers Party focused on crime, which they saw as increasing, and promised to make it a priority if they were elected.[7] Their leader Compton pledged to tackle unemployment, which they said was to blame for much of the crime in Saint Lucia.[8] They also promised to revive the banana industry in Saint Lucia and accused the Saint Lucia Labour Party of corruption and nepotism.[9] However the age of the United Workers Party leader John Compton, at 81, became an issue with the Saint Lucia Labour Party calling on voters to not entrust the country to him.[10]
The governing Saint Lucia Labour Party defended their record in office and put the strong economic growth over the last few years at the centre of their campaign.[8] They also pledged to continue tackling crime in Saint Lucia and to bring in a mandatory capital punishment for anyone convicted of murder.[8] The Saint Lucia Labour Party received assistance in the campaign from the Prime Ministers of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica who both spoke in favour of the party at rallies.[11]
The police commissioner in Saint Lucia described the election as the most peaceful yet in Saint Lucia[5] with election monitors from CARICOM and the Organisation of American States observing the election.[12] Four opinion polls as the election neared showed differing results with each political party favoured by two of the polls.[5] There was controversy over the release of a poll two days before the election which strongly favoured the Saint Lucia Labour Party, with the United Workers Party describing it as a "laughing stock" as it had been conducted back on the 25 and 26 November.[13]
Results
editThe results saw the United Workers Party gain a majority in the election, winning 11 of the 17 seats.[4] While the United Workers Party won a strong majority of the seats they were only around 2,000 votes, or 3%, ahead of the Saint Lucia Labour Party.[9] The election resulted in John Compton succeeding Kenny Anthony, and Compton became Prime Minister again at the age of 81.[2][7]
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| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| United Workers Party | 38,894 | 51.34 | 11 | +8 | |
| Saint Lucia Labour Party | 36,604 | 48.32 | 6 | –8 | |
| Independents | 258 | 0.34 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 75,756 | 100.00 | 17 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 75,756 | 97.77 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,731 | 2.23 | |||
| Total votes | 77,487 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 132,545 | 58.46 | |||
| Source: Caribbean Elections | |||||
By constituency
editThe seventeen constituency results in the election were as follows.[14]
| Constituency | Winner | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Anse la Raye/Canaries | Keith Mondesir | United Workers Party gain |
| Babonneau | Ezekiel Joseph | United Workers Party gain |
| Castries Central | Richard Frederick | United Workers Party gain |
| Castries East | Philip Pierre | Saint Lucia Labour Party hold |
| Castries North | Stephenson King | United Workers Party gain |
| Castries South | Robert Lewis | Saint Lucia Labour Party hold |
| Castries South East | Guy Joseph | United Workers Party gain |
| Choiseul | Rufus Bousquet | United Workers Party gain |
| Dennery North | Marcus Nicholas | United Workers Party hold |
| Dennery South | Edmund Estephane | United Workers Party gain |
| Gros Islet | Lenard Montoute | United Workers Party gain |
| Laborie | Alva Baptiste | Saint Lucia Labour Party hold |
| Micoud North | John Compton | United Workers Party hold |
| Micoud South | Arsene James | United Workers Party hold |
| Soufriere | Harold Dalson | Saint Lucia Labour Party hold |
| Vieux Fort North | Moses Jean Baptiste | Saint Lucia Labour Party hold |
| Vieux Fort South | Kenny Anthony | Saint Lucia Labour Party hold |
References
edit- ^ "St Lucia Gov't tipped for landslide third term". The Jamaica Observer. 10 December 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Sir John Compton". The Daily Telegraph. London. 10 September 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ Pattullo, Polly (9 September 2007). "Sir John Compton". guardian.co.uk. London. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ a b "UWP wins St Lucia polls". Caribbean360. 12 December 2006. Archived from the original on 27 January 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ a b c d "ST LUCIA: The day of reckoning". Jamaica Gleaner. 11 December 2006. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ "St Lucia by-election victory for independent candidate". Caribbean Net News. 14 March 2006. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Compton is back in power in St Lucia". BBC Online. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ a b c "Independence hero claims victory". Caymanian Compass. 12 December 2006. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Challenges for Compton in St Lucia's aftershock poll". The Jamaica Observer. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ "ST LUCIA: Compton's age takes centre stage". Jamaica Gleaner. 1 November 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ "After St Lucia, where next?". The Jamaica Observer. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "ST LUCIA: CARICOM, OAS to monitor polls". Jamaica Gleaner. 21 November 2006. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ "ST LUCIA: Bill Johnson poll under fire". Jamaica Gleaner. 11 December 2006. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ "St Lucia legislative election of 11 December 2006". Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 20 May 2009.