United Workers Party (Saint Lucia)

Last updated
United Workers Party
Leader Allen Chastanet
Founded1964
Merger of People's Progressive Party
National Labour Movement
Ideology Christian democracy
Conservatism
Political position Centre-right
Regional affiliation Caribbean Democrat Union
International affiliation International Democracy Union
House of Assembly
2 / 17
Senate
3 / 11
Website
uwpstlucia.com

The United Workers Party is a conservative political party in Saint Lucia currently led by former Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet, who defeated former Prime Minister Stephenson King in a July 28, 2013 leadership election. The party was led previously by Sir John Compton, the party's founder.

Contents

History

The party was formed before the 1964 general elections by an alliance of the People's Progressive Party and the National Labour Movement, a splinter group founded by three members (John Compton, Vincent Monrose, and Maurice Mason) from the ruling Saint Lucia Labour Party. [1] John Compton was the political leader and Henry Giraudy was the chairman of the party. They won the elections, taking six of the eight seats. They remained in power after winning elections in 1969 and 1974, before losing the 1979 elections to the Labour Party. They returned to power after winning 14 of the 17 seats in the 1982 elections, and remained in power after two elections in 1987 and one in 1992. The Labour Party won the 1997 and 2001 elections, but the UWP regained power in the 2006 elections. Since then neither party has managed to retain office for more than a single term. In 2011 the UWP lost the election to Labour, regained power in the 2016 elections, taking 11 of the 17 seats in the House [2] , only to return to Opposition with just 2 seats after the 2021 election.

The United Workers Party is a member of the Caribbean Democrat Union, the regional organization of the global conservative International Democracy Union.

Leaders

United Workers Party Prime Ministers

Symbol

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
ElectionTerm of officeRef.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1 John Compton 1986.png John Compton
(1925-2007)
22 February 19792 July 1979130 days [5]
1982
1987
(6 Apr.)
1987
(30 Apr.)
1992
3 May 19822 April 199613 years, 335 days [5]
2006 11 December 20067 September 2007 †270 days [6] [5]
2 No image.png Vaughan Lewis
(born 1940)
2 April 199624 May 19971 year, 52 days [5]
3 Stephenson King.png Stephenson King
(born 1958)
7 September 200730 November 20114 years, 84 days [5]
4 Allen Chastanet.jpg Allen Chastanet
(born 1960)
2016 7 June 201628 July 20215 years, 51 days [7]

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

ElectionParty leaderVotes%Seats+/–PositionResult
1964 John Compton 9,61551.5%
6 / 10
Increase2.svg 6Increase2.svg 1stMajority government
1969 13,32858.1%
6 / 10
Steady2.svgSteady2.svg 1stMajority government
1974 17,30053.4%
10 / 17
Increase2.svg 4Steady2.svg 1stMajority government
1979 19,70643.8%
5 / 17
Decrease2.svg 5Decrease2.svg 2ndOpposition
1982 27,25256.2%
14 / 17
Increase2.svg 9Increase2.svg 1stSupermajority government
1987 (6 Apr) 25,89252.5%
9 / 17
Decrease2.svg 5Steady2.svg 1stMajority government
1987 (30 Apr) 28,04653.2%
9 / 17
Steady2.svgSteady2.svg 1stMajority government
1992 33,56256.7%
11 / 17
Increase2.svg 2Steady2.svg 1stMajority government
1997 Vaughan Lewis 26,32536.6%
1 / 17
Decrease2.svg 10Decrease2.svg 2ndOpposition
2001 Morella Joseph 23,00737.8%
3 / 17
Increase2.svg 2Steady2.svg 2ndOpposition
2006 John Compton 38,89451.3%
11 / 17
Increase2.svg 8Increase2.svg 1stMajority government
2011 Stephenson King 39,10046.96%
6 / 17
Decrease2.svg 5Decrease2.svg 2ndOpposition
2016 Allen Chastanet 46,18354.79%
11 / 17
Increase2.svg 5Increase2.svg 1stMajority government
2021 37.48142.91%
2 / 17
Decrease2.svg 9Decrease2.svg 2ndOpposition

References

  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p582 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  2. "Saint Lucia General Elections". elections.gov.lc. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  3. "Freedom in the World 2002 - Saint Lucia". Refworld.
  4. 1 2 "Saint Lucia Modern History – aGoodDir International Directory".
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia". 25 June 2016. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  6. "John Compton, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, dies at 82". International Herald Tribune. 8 September 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  7. Charles, Jacqueline (7 June 2016). "Saint Lucia swears in new prime minister". Miami Herald. Miami Herald Media Company. Retrieved 12 June 2018.