Defeated Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidates said Thursday they are regrouping and returning to their constituencies to rebuild support, insisting that despite the party’s 30–nil seat loss to the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), their work in the communities is far from over.
The final results were confirmed in the early hours of the morning as it became clear that the DLP had once again failed to secure a seat in Parliament — the third consecutive general election without directly elected representation in the House of Assembly.
Candidates and supporters gathered at the party’s George Street headquarters in St Michael as the results came in.
General Secretary Pedro Shepherd told Barbados TODAY that the party must reassess its strategy to understand why growing interest has not translated into electoral victories.
“We have to probably go back to the drawing board to see why all of our efforts are still not translating into votes,” he said. “In terms of my own constituency, I was able to gain a few more votes, but I also believe that my opponent gained a few more votes as well. So I would say that there was some increase in voter turnout in St Michael South East, and maybe it is attributed to me on the campaign trail asking people to come out and, you know, exercise their democratic right.”
Shepherd, a party member for 37 years, credited former DLP leader Ralph Thorne with helping to rebuild interest in the DLP over the past two years. Thorne indicated he was stepping down from helming the 70-year-old party that led the country to independence nearly 60 years ago.
Shepherd said: “We made significant progress in terms of getting people to come back to the party to want to be part and parcel of the party. We put up a very strong fight across Barbados, and people recognised that.”
Despite his defeat to Santia Bradshaw, the deputy prime minister and transport minister in the last Mottley administration, Shepherd said he remains committed to the constituency.
“I offered to bring back the socials, community and sporting activities that are not there in the constituency. I spoke about education, about roads, about health, and that still did not sit with the constituents.”
He acknowledged that some have encouraged him to contest another seat but said he is reluctant to leave.
“There are people who would have asked me to move from St Michael South East and go to maybe St Philip where I come from, but having spent 38 years in St Michael South East, I believe I have a further contribution to make. But if that is the will of the people next election, I might consider it.”
Shepherd also pointed to poverty, housing challenges and financial hardship as ongoing concerns in the constituency, while noting that incumbents have access to greater state resources.
“The real issue in the constituency is the level of poverty to some extent, the challenges people are having with housing, with being able to pay bills and the parliamentary representative has access to state resources to allow her to pay some bills and assist people financially, and she also has access to other resources that I don’t have.”
He further suggested that the presence of third parties may have fragmented opposition support.
“I think that we have to look seriously at the fringe parties, the third parties and the fourth parties… having the splinters or the breakaway of factions from the Democratic Labour Party has frustrated numbers large enough to make the difference.”
Meanwhile, St Michael Central candidate and former DLP senator Andre Worrell congratulated BLP candidate Tyra Trotman on her victory but said the constituency still requires significant attention.
“It is a constituency which I do believe needs a lot of work in terms of development for the youth, and also a lot of infrastructural work and so forth. So it is a constituency that needs a lot of work and needs a lot of love and a lot of care.”
Christ Church South candidate Corey Greenidge, who also conceded defeat to Dr Shantal Munro-Knight, described the campaign as a learning experience and suggested that limited preparation time affected outreach.
“We were able to build many relationships in many of the communities within the constituency, but yes, more time would have given us more opportunity to do more.”
Greenidge also raised the issue of fixed-date elections: “In Barbados’ recent history, there’s only been one other snap election… and now snap elections seem to be the norm rather than the exception. So it’s something for us to consider, and it’s a conversation that needs to be had as we go forward.”
In St Michael North East, first-time candidate Jamal Sandiford said he felt accomplished despite his massive loss to Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
“I was expecting to get 200 votes. I’ve been ratified for roughly almost four months, and then there was the quick snap election.”
He noted that he secured close to 400 votes and believes time was a major factor: “She’s been in this constituency for over 32 years. I just came here roughly four months ago. Could you imagine if I had nine months? Could you imagine if I had a year?”
Sandiford said he intends to remain active in the constituency.
“I noticed that this election wasn’t about who’s more powerful, it’s about who’s more known. I will continue to be committed to working with you as long as you open your arms and open your doors and open your hearts to me.”
St Michael West candidate Damien Fanus echoed similar sentiments, describing his first campaign, launched just weeks before the election, as encouraging.
“The response was good from the individuals,” said Fanus. “I think that the total that I would have got for five weeks of campaigning encourages me to continue my work in St Michael West… and I’m going to continue to work in that constituency.”
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