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Saint Lucia Labour Party

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Saint Lucia Labour Party
LeaderPhilip J. Pierre
FoundedOctober 1950 (1950-10)
HeadquartersJeremie Street
Castries
IdeologySocial democracy
Political positionCentre-left
Regional affiliationCOPPPAL[1]
São Paulo Forum[2]
International affiliationProgressive Alliance[3]
House of Assembly
13 / 17
Senate
6 / 11
Website
voteslp.org

The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) is a social democratic political party in Saint Lucia. It currently holds 13 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly.

History

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The party was established in 1949, backed by the Saint Lucia Workers Cooperative Union.[4] In the first elections held under universal suffrage in 1951, and led by party founder George Charles, the party won five of the eight seats. It retained all five seats in the 1954 elections, and increased their majority to seven of the eight seats in 1957 and nine of the ten seats in 1961.

In 1964, the party lost an election for the first time, with the United Workers Party, born out of a schism from within the Labour Party led by John Compton and eventual merger of the breakaway faction with the People's Progressive Party, winning six of the ten seats, with the Labour Party reduced to two. It gained a seat in the 1969 elections, and increased their representation to seven seats in 1974, although the UWP remained in power as the total number of seats rose to 17.

The Labour Party returned to power after winning the 1979 elections (12/17), led by Allan Louisy, replaced as prime minister during the term by Winston Cenac, himself replaced by Michael Pilgrim. The 1979 elections were the first elections held following independence from the United Kingdom, declared on 22 February 1979.

It lost the 1982 elections to Compton's UWP when they were reduced to just two seats, challenged on their left by a breakaway faction, George Odlum's Progressive Labour Party taking 1 seat. It remained in opposition following the two elections of April 1987, increasing its presence to 8 seats in both contests, and in 1992 (6/17).

Led by Dr. Kenny Anthony, former cabinet minister in the 1979–1982 government, it won the 1997 elections, taking 16 of the 17 seats. It remained in power after the 2001 elections (14/17).

It lost the 2006 elections to the UWP, who had called back John Compton[5] as leader a year before - he had retired in 1996. Kenny Anthony remained leader of the party throughout its time as loyal opposition. The Labour Party won the 2011 Saint Lucian general election (28 November 2011), winning in 11 out of a 17-seats contest and defeating UWP leader Stephenson King who had succeeded John Compton as Prime Minister (d. 2007, in office).

The Labour Party lost the 2016 elections to the UWP by 11 seats to 6, and Kenny Anthony resigned as party leader. Former Deputy PM Philip J. Pierre was confirmed as party leader on 18 June 2016.[6][7][8]

Saint Lucia Labour Party Prime Ministers

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See also: List of prime ministers of Saint Lucia
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Election Term of office Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Allan Louisy
(1916–2011) 		1979 2 July 1979 4 May 1981 1 year, 306 days [9]
2 Winston Cenac
(1925–2004) 		— 4 May 1981 17 January 1982 258 days [9]
3 Kenny Anthony
(born 1951) 		1997
2001 		24 May 1997 11 December 2006 9 years, 201 days [9]
2011 30 November 2011 7 June 2016 4 years, 190 days
4 Philip J. Pierre
(born 1954) 		2021 28 July 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 111 days [10]

Electoral history

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House of Assembly elections

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Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Result
1951 George Charles 7,648 49.6%
5 / 8
 Increase 5 Increase 1st Majority government
1954 7,462 47.4%
5 / 8
 Steady Steady 1st Majority government
1957 14,345 66.5%
7 / 8
 Increase 2 Steady 1st Supermajority government
1961 11,898 61.5%
9 / 10
 Increase 2 Steady 1st Supermajority government
1964 5,617 30.1%
2 / 10
 Decrease 7 Decrease 2nd Opposition
1969 Kenneth Foster[11] 8,271 36.1%
3 / 10
 Increase 1 Steady 2nd Opposition
1974 Allan Louisy 14,554 44.5%
7 / 17
 Increase 4 Steady 2nd Opposition
1979 25,294 56.2%
12 / 17
 Increase 5 Increase 1st Supermajority government
1982 Peter Josie 8,122 16.7%
2 / 17
 Decrease 10 Decrease 2nd Opposition
1987 (6 Apr) Julian Hunte 18,889 38.3%
8 / 17
 Increase 6 Steady 2nd Opposition
1987 (30 Apr) 21,515 40.8%
8 / 17
 Steady Steady 2nd Opposition
1992 25,565 43.2%
6 / 17
 Decrease 2 Steady 2nd Opposition
1997 Kenny Anthony 44,153 61.3%
16 / 17
 Increase 8 Increase 1st Supermajority government
2001 34,053 56.0%
14 / 17
 Decrease 2 Steady 1st Supermajority government
2006 36,604 48.3%
6 / 17
 Decrease 8 Decrease 2nd Opposition
2011 42,456 50.99%
11 / 17
 Increase 5 Increase 1st Majority government
2016 37,148 44.07%
6 / 17
 Decrease 5 Decrease 2nd Opposition
2021 Philip J. Pierre 43,798 50.14%
13 / 17
 Increase 7 Increase 1st Supermajority government

References

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  1. ^ "Partidos Miembros". COPPPAL. Archived from the original on 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  2. ^ "Reunión Extraordinario del Grupo de Trabajo del FSP – 17 y 18 de mayo – Manágua, Nicarágua". forodesaopaulo.org. 13 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Participants | Progressive Alliance". Archived from the original on 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  4. ^ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p581 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  5. ^ "John George Melvin Compton". Retrieved 3 Aug 2021.
  6. ^ "UWP wins general election". St. Lucia News Online. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Hon. Philip J Pierre is leader of the SLP". Loop News. 20 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  8. ^ "Pierre confirmed as SLP Leader" (Press release). Saint Lucia Labour Party. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia". 25 June 2016. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  10. ^ Reporter, WIC News (2021-07-28). "Philip J Pierre to take oath as Prime Minister of St Lucia today". WIC News. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  11. ^ Contributor, Outside (22 June 2020). "A Tribute to Kenneth Foster from Julian R. Hunte". The St. Lucia STAR. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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