2025 Turks and Caicos Islands general election

2025 Turks and Caicos Islands general election

←  2021 7 February 2025 2030 →
19 of the 21 seats in the Parliament
First party Second party   PDM Leader Washington Misick Edwin Astwood Party PNP PDM Last election 14 seats 1 seat Seats won 16 2 Seat change 2 1
Premier before election Washington Misick PNP Elected Premier Washington Misick PNP

General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 7 February 2025 to determine the composition of the Parliament of the Turks and Caicos Islands. ^[1] Significant constitutional changes meant they were the first general election in which nine at-large MPs were elected. ^[2]

Background

The House of Assembly was renamed the Parliament of the Turks and Caicos Islands on 10 December 2024, alongside a term increase to a maximum of five years. The electoral system was also modified so that 19 instead of 15 members will be elected, with the four formerly appointed seats becoming at-large constituency seats. The constitutional amendments were unanimously adopted by the House of Assembly and afterwards authorised by the government of the United Kingdom in late 2024. ^[3]

In practice this meant that voters now have to fill out just one paper ballot instead of two, and will fill in ovals next to candidates names instead of marking a box with an X. Votes will be counted electronically. Despite the new simplifications, there is still a concern that some voters will be either unaware or confused by the changes, so both written and video recorded English instructions will also be provided to polling locations on how to vote under the new system. ^[4]

Electoral system

The Parliament has 21 members, of whom 19 are elected members and two (the Attorney General and Speaker) are ex officio.

The 19 members were elected by two methods; ten from single-member constituencies and nine elected on an at-large basis, with voters able to vote for up to nine candidates at the national level. ^[5]

Campaign

The composition of the outgoing assembly, with the ruling PNP holding 12 seats, and the opposition PDM holding just 1

Incumbent PNP premier Washington Misick signing the guestbook at the Funeral of Elizabeth II

The Turks and Caicos has a de facto two party system between the centre-right People's Democratic Movement (PDM) and the centre-left Progressive National Party (PNP). The PNP has been governing with Washington Misick as premier since the 2021 elections saw the PDM collapse from 10 seats to just one due to unpopular mismanagement of both the economy and the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the PNP is still campaigning on. ^[6] The PNP's manifesto called the PDM's time in office from 2016 to 2021 as "factless and incompetent" and touted over $4 billion in foreign investments under their leadership, as well as a 20% increase in the minimum wage and the first-ever pay review for public servants, alongside a debt forgiveness scheme the government implemented. ^[7] The PDM's manifesto centered around calling the PNP soft on crime and pledged to strengthen the island’s security framework while also calling to "secure our borders." The manifesto also called for the mass construction of new homes, and the reduction in the cost of living and increasing domestic education and employment opportunities. The PDM also called for an increase to a $1,000 stipend to the elderly, and the expansion of mental health facilities. ^[8]

One of the leading controversies of the election was the leader of the PDM calling the murder of an immigrant insurance broker and her brother, an American sheriff's deputy from Chicago, outside a nightclub on 27 January, as "a message from God", leading to a reprimand from the Governor "to be mindful." ^{[9] [10]}

Results

The PNP government was re-elected, winning 16 of the 19 available seats while the PDM opposition won just 2. ^[11] Independent candidate Tamell Seymour was victorious in the South Caicos seat. ^[12]

Party		District			At-large			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Progressive National Party	3,958	58.56	7	35,560	60.17	9	16	+2
	People's Democratic Movement	2,578	38.14	2	22,794	38.57	0	2	+1
	Progressive Democratic Alliance				183	0.31	0	0	0
	Independents	223	3.30	1	558	0.94	0	1	+1
Ex officio members								2	0
Nominated members								0	–4
Total		6,759	100.00	10	59,095	100.00	9	21	0
Valid votes		6,759	100.00
Invalid/blank votes		0	0.00
Total votes		6,759	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,385	72.02
Source: Turks & Caicos Islands Government

By constituency

Constituency		Candidate	Party		Votes
1	Grand Turk North	Otis Chuck Morris		Progressive National Party	377
		George Lightbourne		People's Democratic Movement	198
2	Grand Turk South and Saltcay	Edwin Astwood		People's Democratic Movement	363
		Walter Federick Lake Gardiner		Progressive National Party	315
		Derek Been		Independent	58
3	South Caicos	Tamell Seymour		Independent	165
		John Jamael Malcolm		Progressive National Party	104
		Hynetta Lenore Forbes		People's Democratic Movement	28
4	Middle and North Caicos	Arlington Alexander Musgrove		Progressive National Party	371
		Denaz Williams		People's Democratic Movement	144
5	Leeward (Providenciales)	Akierra Missick		Progressive National Party	461
		Keith Cox		People's Democratic Movement	213
6	The Bight (Providenciales)	Audric Skippings		People's Democratic Movement	359
		Matthew Timothy Stubbs		Progressive National Party	358
7	Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill (Providenciales)	Samuel Ernest Been		Progressive National Party	553
		Finbar Albert Grant		People's Democratic Movement	354
8	Blue Hills (Providenciales)	Randy Dexter Howell		Progressive National Party	368
		Anthony McCleaver Walkin		People's Democratic Movement	365
9	Five Cays (Providenciales)	Rachel Marshall Taylor		Progressive National Party	657
		Bryant R. Cox		People's Democratic Movement	299
10	Wheeland (Providenciales)	Kyle Knowles		Progressive National Party	394
		Vaden Delroy Williams		People's Democratic Movement	255
All Island District 9 elected at-large
		Erwin Jay Saunders		Progressive National Party	4,614
		Washington Misick		Progressive National Party	4,208
		Jamell Robinson		Progressive National Party	4,050
		Shaun David Malcolm		Progressive National Party	3,992
		Zhavargo Jermaine Jolly		Progressive National Party	3,932
		Jameka Lashawn Williams		Progressive National Party	3,911
		Josephine Connolly		Progressive National Party	3,881
		Sharon Anne Simons		Progressive National Party	3,574
		Willin Antoni Belliard		Progressive National Party	3,398
		Robert A. Been		People's Democratic Movement	2,767
		Karen Malcolm		People's Democratic Movement	2,709
		Sabrina Green		People's Democratic Movement	2,591
		Sean Richard Astwood		People's Democratic Movement	2,562
		Temmard Butterfield		People's Democratic Movement	2,498
		Ralph Lewis Higgs		People's Democratic Movement	2,490
		Dwayne Taylor		People's Democratic Movement	2,486
		Ruth Mae Ariza		People's Democratic Movement	2,440
		Alvin Kingsley Garland		People's Democratic Movement	2,251
		Philip McRae Robinson		Independent	286
		Paul Bernard Beresford		Independent	272
		Winston McLaughlin		Progressive Democratic Alliance	183

References

1. "Turks and Caicos Islands elections on February 7, 2025". The Sun. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
2. "Sweeping constitutional amendments -House of Assembly renamed Parliament, term extended". Turks & Caicos Weekly News. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
3. "Constitutional Change in Turks and Caicos Islands: Territorial Particularities and Regional Commonalities". ConstitutionNet. 30 November 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
4. "TCI ready for electronic voting in February elections". tcweeklynews. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
5. Basic election ballot rules released ^[usurped] TCI News Now, 3 September 2012
6. Boyce, Hayden. "Turks and Caicos Islands elections on February 7, 2025". The Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
7. Handfield, Daisy. "PNP Manifesto Launch: Premier Misick pledges to prioritize the well-being of islanders". The Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
8. Handfield, Daisy. "PDM unveils manifesto, promises to prioritize people's future". The Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
9. "Governor calls for high standards to be maintained as elections draw near". The Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
10. "Local insurance executive, Chicago sheriff shot dead at Aziza nightclub". suntci. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
11. "2025 Turks and Caicos Election Results: PNP Wins". Visit Turks and Caicos Islands. Retrieved 2025-02-08.
12. "Turks and Caicos ruling party wins general election - Jamaica Observer". Jamaica Observer. 2025-02-08. Retrieved 2025-02-08.