The Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), also known simply as Labour, is a

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

. It is currently in government in the country after winning six of the eleven contested seats in the 2022 general election. It is the oldest active political party in the English-speaking Caribbean.

History

The party was founded in 1932 and was initially known as the St Kitts Workers' League. It put forward two candidates in the 1937 elections, both of which were elected. It subsequently won all the elected seats in 1940,

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

and

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

. From 1946 until 1978, the party was led by Robert Bradshaw. It saw most of its success on

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

, as voters on

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

and

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

islands tended to elect independents and local parties. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p570 Labour was the only party to contest the 1952 elections and won all eight seats. They retained power in the 1957 despite losing three seats to independents. The party was also victorious in 1961 and changed its name to the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla Labour Party in 1966. It went on to win three consecutive elections, in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, winning seven seats on each occasion. When Anguilla seceded in 1980, the party adopted its current name. In the elections that year, the party was reduced to four seats, and although it was the largest faction in the National Assembly, the opposition

People's Action Movement The People's Action Movement (PAM) is a political party in the island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The party currently holds one of the 11 seats in the National Assembly. PAM operates only in Saint Kitts and for the 2022 general election ...

was able to form a coalition government. The Labour Party was reduced to two seats in the 1984 elections and remained with only two MPs after the 1989 elections. Although it received the most votes in the 1993 elections and won the same number of seats as the PAM, the PAM remained in power. However, early elections were called in 1995, in which the Labour Party won a majority of seats. They increased their majority in the 2000 elections and retained power in elections in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. After Labour suffered defeats in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Denzil Douglas decided to step down as party leader in 2021. Party chairman Terrance Drew was elected as his successor in a national convention. Earl Asim Martin became the new party chairman.

Leadership

* Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, 1945-1978 * Paul Southwell, 1978-1979 * Lee Moore, 1979-1989 * Denzil Douglas, 1989-2021 * Terrance Drew, 2021-

Election results

References

External links

Official websiteSt Kitts National Young Labour
(Defunct) {{Authority control Former member parties of the Socialist International Labour parties Political parties in Saint Kitts and Nevis Political parties established in 1932 Socialist parties in North America 1932 establishments in Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla