St Lucians elect a new government

St Lucians have changed their government for the third time in three successive elections.

As we went to press last night, preliminary results indicated that the United Workers Party (UWP) had secured a massive victory over the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP), taking 11 of the 17 seats at stake.

The UWP, led by Allen Chastanet, had secured victories in the constituencies of Gros Islet (Lenard Montoute); Babonneau (Ezechiel Joseph); Castries North (Stephenson King); Castries Central (Sarah Flood Beaubrun); Anse-La-Raye/Canaries (Dominic Fedee); Soufriere (Herold Stanislas); Choiseul (John Felix); Micoud South (Allen Chastanet); Micoud North (Gayle Rigobert); Dennery South (Edmund Estephane); and Castries South East (Guy Joseph).{{more}}

The incumbent SLP, led by Kenny Anthony, managed to retain six seats, having won Castries East (Phillip J Pierre); Castries South (Ernest Hilaire); Laborie (Alva Baptiste); Vieux Fort South (Kenny Anthony); Vieux Fort North (Moses Jn Baptiste); and Dennery North (Shawn Edward).

Prime Minister Kenny Anthony called a snap election on May 19, saying that an early election was in the best interests of the country. Elections were not constitutionally due until November, the last elections having been held on November 28, 2011, when the SLP won 11 of the 17 seats.

The key issues in the election, according to a CADRES poll, were unemployment, the economy and health care.

In 2006, the UWP, then led by Stephenson King, won the general elections with a margin of 11 seats to 6. Prior to that, the SLP had won 14 of the 17 seats in the 2001 elections, while the UWP had taken the remaining seats. In 1997, the SLP won by a landslide, winning 16 of the 17 seats at stake.