Some Comments

1951 was the year of Adult Suffrage when all adults over 21 years of age could vote without having any income or property qualification.

1954 the Peoples Party of Ebenezer Joshua which was formed in 1952 won 3 of the 8 seats.

The other seats were won by George Charles and other Independents, the Eight Army of Liberation which swept the polls in 1951 was no longer in existence.

In 1961 there was an increase of constituencies by one- St George’s being split into West and East St. George, R. Milton Cato won East St. George for the St. Vincent Labour Party. West St. George was won by Afflick Haynes of Joshua’s PPP. Also, there was some constitutional change involving Greater Internal Self Government, Joshua becoming the country’s First Chief Minister.

In 1972 there were 13 seats. Central Windward was divided into North and South Central Windward, Marriaqua was added, coming out of South Windward; Kingstown divided into East and West Kingstown and Central Leeward coming out of North Leeward. The voting age had been then reduced to 18 years. 1972 was an historic election year with a tie between the two major parties and Mitchell who had resigned from the Labour Party and run as an Independent emerging as Premier, St. Vincent having been granted Statehood in Association with Britain in 1969. Joshua joined the PPP in a coalition which ended with the withdrawal of Joshua in 1974 prompting an election in 1974 after a Vote of No Confidence. Joshua and Mrs Joshua came to an agreement with a party they had long opposed. Joshua became a member of the Government while his wife was made Leader of the Opposition through a sleight of hand.

The Labour/PPP coalition ended in 1979 when Joshua was asked to leave following his refusal to agree to Independence being held in 1979. Independence was achieved in 1979 and Elections held in December of that year, followed shortly after by an uprising in Union Island. The 1979 election was won overwhelmingly by the Labour Party with James Mitchell deciding to take on Joshua in South Central Windward both of them being defeated by Offord Morris of the Labour Party.

Between 1954 and 1979 three female candidates contested elections. Floris Simmonds as an Independent for the Grenadines in 1954, Prenila John for the Mitchell/Sylvester Party in 1974, and Ivy Joshua between 1957 and 1979 winning in all her contests except that of 1979. After 1984 there were over 30 female candidates who contested elections.

On a final note, there were two by-elections held, the first on 23rd June 1980 when Mitchell returned to recapture his old seat with Cosmos Cozier who had won the seat in 1979 resigning and giving way to him. On 12th September 1983, another by-election was held in Central Leeward following the death of Arthur Woods of the Labour Party. The seat was then won by Valcina Ash on behalf of the Labour Party, a seat she lost shortly after to Herbert Young of the NDP.

I end with a piece of election gossip. In 1954 it was said that a candidate running in St. George got one vote in the area where he and his wife lived. He, I was told, was sure that he had voted for himself. Did he really?

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian