The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) is a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

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 Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

. It currently holds 15 of the 17 seats in 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 ...

History

The party was established in 1949, backed by the Saint Lucia Workers Cooperative Union. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p581 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 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and nine of the ten seats in

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, 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 Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first prime minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton ser ...

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 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 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 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(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

as leader a year before - he had retired in 1996. Kenny Anthony remained leader of the party throughout its time as

loyal opposition In parliamentary systems of government, the loyal opposition is the opposition parties in the legislature. The word ''loyal'' indicates that the non-governing parties may oppose the actions of the sitting cabinet while remaining loyal to the form ...

. 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 Stephenson King (born 13 November 1958) is the former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is the Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development, and Urban Renewal. King was the former candidate for the Uni ...

who had succeeded John Compton as Prime Minister (d. 2007, in office). The Labour Party lost the

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

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.

Saint Lucia Labour Party Prime Ministers

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Former member parties of the Socialist International Labour parties Political parties in Saint Lucia São Paulo Forum Socialist parties in North America