Nicholas beats Lovell in St. John’s City East

The Antigua Barbuda Labour Party’s (ABLP) Melford Nicholas will remain as the parliamentary representative for the St. John’s City East Constituency after having won that seat for the second consecutive term.
According to the announced results, Nicholas won 769 votes while the United Progressive Party’s (UPP) Harold Lovell received 616 votes.
Nicholas told OBSERVER media, moments after the decision was announced at the Princess Margaret School, that the people have shown once again that they are satisfied with his representation.
“I had the pick of the most intense battle of this campaign, and I think it was certainly fought out on that basis,” he said.
Nicholas recalled that when he won in the 2015 general election, it was considered a major upset. But now he says, “I had my strength, and because I came up against the political leader of the UPP, he would have stockpiled a lot of resources to fight me…but I am victorious.”
The returning MP said he would not have been able to secure this victory without his “solid” team.
He said that the ABLP, especially Prime Minister Gaston Browne, gave a lot of support and was able to execute “one of the most shortened brilliant campaigns ever.”
Nicholas said that once ‘the shouting and the noise’ are over, there are some serious concerns of the constituency that must be addressed.
“They chastened me and told me that I need to address some things. And even if they had those concerns, they have given me another chance to make it right,” Nicholas told this reporter.
Meanwhile, when contacted for comment, Mr. Lovell said that he would speak about his defeat at a later time.
The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) candidate, Bruce Goodwin, was only able to garner 18 votes.
There were ten spoiled ballots.