General elections were held in

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

on 9 December 2015. The result was a victory for the

Unity Labour Party The Unity Labour Party (ULP) is a democratic socialist political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Currently the governing party, it is led by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

, which retained its one seat majority. However, the NDP has challenged the results in two constituencies, North Windward, and Central Leeward.

Electoral system

The 15 elected members of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

were elected in single-member constituencies using the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system.

Campaign

A total of 43 candidates contested the elections. The two biggest parties were the incumbent Unity Labor Party of Prime Minister

Ralph Gonsalves Ralph Everard Gonsalves (born 8 August 1946) is a Vincentian politician who has served as prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the leader of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) since 2001.

and the opposition

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

of Arnhim Eustace, both of which ran candidates in all the 15 constituencies. Smaller parties included the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and the Democratic Republican Party, who only competed in seven and six constituencies respectively. As 11,902 registered voters were first-time voters, both major parties looked to woo young voters. Gonsalves emphasised the importance of the youth as "solutions to the problem of our civilisation" rather than "problems to be solved." Eustace announced initiatives aimed at decreasing unemployment, including "proposals for youth, sports, and culture."St. Vincent and Grenadines holds parliamentary elections
Xinhua, 10 December 2015

Marginal seats

Conduct

The OAS sent an observer team. There were 227 polling stations, which opened between 07:00 and 17:00.

Results

Elected MPs

Reactions

In reaction to the win Gonsalves said: "I am humbled and honoured that the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines embraced our bold vision for the future and rejected the politics of hate," he also called for national unity to address developmental challenges. However he added that there were issues in the constituencies of North Leeward and South Leeward and "we are also calling for an immediate recount to ensure that all the votes are counted in those constituencies. There are more rejected ballots than the margin and those ballots should be examined closely to determine the intent of the voters." The NDP refused to concede the defeat according to inconsistencies in the Central Leeward constituency. A party statement read: "We of the New Democratic Party are confident that we have won the general elections based on figures received by our various polling agents. Our figures show that we won the Central Leeward seat by six votes, which means that we won the general elections by eight seats to seven."Unity Labor Party wins St. Vincent and Grenadines parliamentary elections
Xinhua, 11 December 2015

Leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

Arnhim Eustace, who won his seat against ULP candidate Luke Brown by fewer than 50 votes, added that there were many irregularities took place in his constituency of East Kingstown, including "illegal voting, and contradictory voters list to agents."Ruling party wins historic fourth term in St Vincent and the Grenadines
WINN FM, 10 December 2015

References

{{Saint Vincent and the Grenadines elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Saint Vincent Elections in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines December 2015 in North America