People's Democratic Movement (Turks and Caicos Islands)

People's Democratic Movement
Abbreviation	PDM
Leader	Edwin Astwood
Chairperson	Patricia Saunders-Missick
Founded	1975
Ideology	Conservatism Christian democracy [1]
Political position	Centre-right [2]
International affiliation	International Democracy Union Caribbean Democrat Union [3]
Colours	Blue   Gold
UK affiliation	none
House of Assembly	2 / 21
Website
pdmtci.com
Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands Political parties Elections

The People's Democratic Movement is a political party in the Turks and Caicos Islands founded by James Alexander George Smith McCartney and Lewis Edwin Astwood III. The party is led by the current opposition leader, Edwin Astwood.

According to the PDM's website, the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) is the oldest established political organization in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Founded in October 1975, the PDM was the first party to be elected to head the Government.

At the 2003 legislative elections, the party won 7 out of 13 seats. It lost two of these seats at a by-election on 7 August 2003. In the 9 February 2007 elections the party won only 2 out of 15 seats.

In July 2012, Oswald Skippings was elected as the leader of the PDM, while Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson defeated Sean Astwood to become the party's first-ever female deputy leader. ^[4] The party fielded 15 candidates in the 2012 election. ^[5] On November 9, 2012 the PDM was defeated by the PNP and Oswald Skippings stepped down as leader.

Electoral performance

Election	Leader	No. of votes	Share of votes	Seats	Result
1976	JAGS McCartney	956	39.8%	5 / 11	Government (with independents)
1980	Oswald Skippings	1,134	39.6%	3 / 11	Opposition
1984	Clement Howell	1,246	38.8%	3 / 11	Opposition
1988	Oswald Skippings	5,495	59.7%	11 / 13	Government
1991	Oswald Skippings	4,542	48.4%	8 / 13	Opposition
1995	Derek Taylor	2,058	49.9%	8 / 13	Government
1999	Derek Taylor	2,362	52.2%	9 / 13	Government
2003	Derek Taylor	2,747	50.2%	6 / 13	Opposition
2007	Floyd Seymour	2,320	39.1%	2 / 15	Opposition
2012	Oswald Skippings	3,164	44.8%	7 / 15	Opposition
2016	Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson	3,169	51.2%	10 / 15	Government
2021	Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson	2,888	44.7%	1 / 15	Opposition
2025	Edwin Astwood	2,578	38.14%	2 / 21	Opposition

References

1. "Elections Manifesto" (PDF). Retrieved 24 December 2020.
2. "British Turks and Caicos Islands to hold general elections". Foreign Brief. foreignbrief. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021..
3. "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
4. "Skippings, Cartwright-Robinson To Lead PDM". Turks and Caicos Free Press. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
5. Tyson, Vivian (25 October 2012). "37 candidates nominated". Turks & Caicos Sun. Retrieved 30 October 2012.