People's Action Movement | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PAM |
Leader | Shawn Richards |
Chairperson | Azard Gumbs |
Founder | William Valentine Herbert |
Founded | 19 January 1965 |
Ideology | Conservatism Republicanism |
Political position | Centre-right |
National affiliation | One Movement (since 2022) [1] Team Unity (2015–2022) |
Regional affiliation | Caribbean Democrat Union |
International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
National Assembly | 1 / 11 |
Website | |
https://pamskn.org/ | |
The People's Action Movement (PAM) is a political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The party currently holds one of the 11 seats in the National Assembly. PAM operates only in Saint Kitts and for the 2022 general election is in a 'One Movement' alliance with the Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) operating in Nevis, following the breakdown of the governing Team Unity alliance. PAM is a member of the Caribbean Democrat Union, the regional affiliate of the International Democrat Union and shares close links with other centre-right party members in the Caribbean such as the Jamaica Labour Party. [2]
The party first contested national elections in 1966, when they received 35.0% of the vote and won two seats. [3] They were reduced to a single seat in the 1971 elections, but regained their second seat in 1975. In the 1980 elections they won three seats, and were able to form a coalition government with the Nevis Reformation Party to oust the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) from power for the first time since 1952. PAM leader Kennedy Simmonds led the country to independence in 1983, and the party won six of the eleven seats in the 1984 elections to remain in power. They again won six seats in 1989. The 1993 elections saw the both parties winning four seats.
Constance V. Mitcham, the first women to sit in the national assembly, was elected as a PAM candidate in 1984 and served until 1995. [4] [5]
The PAM remained in power, but early elections were held in 1995, which saw the PAM reduced to just one seat (with Simmonds losing his). They lost their single seat in the 2000 elections, but regained it in 2004, with Shawn Richards winning constituency no. 5. In the 2010 elections they won two seats.
Lindsay Grant served as Leader of the PAM until his resignation in July 2012. [6] After Grant's resignation, Shawn K. Richards and Eugene A. Hamilton contested for the party leadership in 2012; Richards came out the victor and became 4th Leader of the PAM and Hamilton became Deputy Leader.
Prior to the 2015 general elections, the People's Action Movement formed a political alliance, known as Team Unity, with the Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) from sister island Nevis and the newly formed People's Labour Party, which was led by former SKNLP members Timothy Harris and Sam Condor.
Election year | Party leader | # of votes | % of vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | William Valentine Herbert | 4,936 | 35.0 (#2) | 2 / 10 | 2 | Official Opposition |
1971 | 5,397 | 37.0 (#2) | 1 / 9 | 1 | Official Opposition | |
1975 | 2,859 | 23.4 (#2) | 2 / 9 | 1 | Official Opposition | |
1980 | Kennedy Simmonds | 4,990 | 33.9 (#2) | 3 / 9 | 1 | Coalition – Majority |
1984 | 8,596 | 47.6 (#1) | 6 / 11 | 3 | Coalition – Majority | |
1989 | 8,090 | 45.4 (#1) | 6 / 11 | Coalition – Majority | ||
1993 | 6,449 | 33.6 (#2) | 4 / 11 | 2 | Coalition – Minority | |
1995 | 7,530 | 34.7 (#2) | 1 / 11 | 3 | Opposition | |
2000 | 6,462 | 29.6 (#2) | 0 / 11 | 1 | No representation | |
2004 | Lindsay Grant | 7,161 | 31.7 (#2) | 1 / 11 | 1 | Opposition |
2010 | 8,393 | 32.2 (#2) | 2 / 11 | 1 | Official Opposition | |
2015 | Shawn Richards | 8,452 | 27.9 (#2) | 4 / 11 | 2 | Coalition |
2020 | 8,067 | 28.91 (#2) | 4 / 11 | Coalition (2020−22) | ||
Opposition (2022) | ||||||
2022 | 4,737 | 16.13 (#3) | 1 / 11 | 3 | Opposition |
Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles. With 261 square kilometres (101 sq mi) of territory, and roughly 50,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population, as well as the world's smallest sovereign federation. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as King and head of state.
Saint Kitts and Nevis have one of the longest written histories in the Caribbean, both islands being among Spain's and England's first colonies in the archipelago. Despite being only two miles apart and quite diminutive in size, Saint Kitts and Nevis were widely recognized as being separate entities with distinct identities until they were forcibly united in the late 19th century.
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The Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), also known simply as Labour, is a centre-left political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is currently in government in the country after winning six of the eleven seats in the 2022 general election. It is the oldest active political party in the English-speaking Caribbean.
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Shawn Kenneth Richards is a Saint Kitts and Nevis politician from People's Action Movement.
Lindsay Fitz-Patrick Grant is a Saint Kitts and Nevis politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the People's Action Movement until his resignation in July 2012.
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