Social and political activist Winston Henry claims there has been a decline in the popularity of the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP), based on the outcome of the St Mary’s South by-election.
He claimed United Progressive Party (UPP) candidate Kelvin ‘Shugy’ Simon’s ability to maintain his numbers in the face of a slightly higher turnout is a telling sign of the decreasing popularity of the Labour Party.
The constituency’s total voter turnout in January’s general election was 1,940, compared to the 1,969 who came out to vote in Tuesday’s by-election.
Simon won Tuesday’s poll, defeating his main rival, the ABLP’s Dwayne George, by 174 votes. In January, his win over ABLP incumbent Samantha Marshall was by 199 votes.
“The southern part of the country is very much opposed to the Gaston Browne figure … he’s pushing out there his personal self, so he’s going to get some pushback. So, while the incumbency has some power, who the incumbent is and what they represent is equally important,” Henry said on Tuesday.
Simon received 1,065 votes in the by-election, while George got 891. Andrew Antonio, the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) candidate, received eight votes.
Henry speculated that George has a chance of representing the ABLP in the next general election as he performed better on Tuesday than Marshall did in January.
“Knowing the short period of time he had to campaign … he’s not the incumbent candidate, so he doesn’t have a lot of political capital…I can’t say that his turnover was not impressive as a first timer,” he stated.