Barbados Labour Party candidates in Christ Church all won convinvingly – from Dr William Duguid in Christ Church West who made a surprise return to contest the election, to Wilfred Abrahams in Christ Church East, who said the best is yet to come.
Christ Church West
Dr William Duguid proved that he had made the right choice when he decided to contest the Christ Church West seat again after hinting earlier that he may step down from elective politics.
Around 1:15 a.m., today returning officer Michael Sealy declared the Barbados Labour Party candidate (BLP) the winner over Democratic Labour Party newcomer Andrew Cave in every box.
Duguid secured 2 473 votes to Cave’s 683.
Cave, an insurance executive, was not at the St Matthias Anglican Church Hall, where the results were read, but two members of his team were present. Jubilation erupted from supporters who had waited patiently from 9 p.m for the counting to begin. That never happened until after 10. (MB)
Christ Church East Central
Ryan Straughn has retained his seat in Christ Church East Central with a resounding victory over Rasheed Belgrave of the Democratic Labour Party, Shawn Tudor of the Alliance Party for Progress, and Bajan Free Party’s Jannette Ifill in the wee hours of today.
Counting began at the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex
around 9:20 p.m. and about four hours later the final result was announced by returning officer Vincent Thomas.
The final count saw 4 520 people voting, with Straughn amassing 2 964 – a margin of 1 675 over Belgrave, who received 1 294 votes – while Tudor and Ifill received 180 and 73, respectively. (ACC)
Christ Church East
It was just around 2:43 a.m. when returning officer Nicole Nurse emerged from the hall of St Christopher Primary School to declare Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) candidate Wilfred Abrahams the duly elected Member of Parliament for Christ Church East.
He secured 3 302 votes to thrash Dr Denis Lowe of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), who mustered 958 votes. Victor Knight, of the Alliance Party for Progress (APP), received 80 votes; Pauline Corbin, of Solutions Barbados, 79; and independent candidate Brian Talma, 79. A total of 4 479 votes were cast.
Minutes after being declared the winner, Abrahams told the media: “The people have spoken. It feels fantastic. There is nothing that feels like a victory. The future looks bright. The best is yet to come.”
Blowing a conch shell before his supporters who blew theirs in return and rang bells, Abrahams, with wife Natalie at his side, posed for photos outside the gates of the school with his supporters all clad in red. A group had gathered from early in the night, just after the first four boxes were counted around 11:15 p.m. (CH)