Luke Browne still hopeful for a win in East Kingstown

Unity Labour Party (ULP) caretaker for the East Kingstown Constituency Luke Browne, said they saw some positive signs in the results of the last General Elections in that constituency even though he lost the election. And, he still thinks they can take the seat.

Browne who was delivering the Caretaker’s report at the first ULP East Kingstown Constituency Conference since 2019 said “… In any election, there will be factors outside our control and in charting our course to ultimate victory we should take these factors into consideration.”

Browne, who lost to the New Democratic Party’s Fitz Gerald Bramble, told attendees “I accept that in East Kingstown the votes for the NDP candidate also went up and that the increase in Opposition votes was larger than our increase in votes such that we lost by a slightly bigger margin … 247, versus 149 in 2015 – a difference of 98”.

“However, the Opposition Candidate in East Kingstown still received less votes than Arnhim Eustace got at his high point in 2010. Additionally, we suffered the smallest adverse change in margin nationwide, after North Leeward and Central Leeward, which are the only constituencies that had a change in margin favourable to ULP,” Browne pointed out.

The conference was not held during the past three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the April, 2021 explosive eruptions of La Soufriere volcano.

This year’s conference was held on Saturday, April 22, at Frenches House in Kingstown.

Caretaker Browne explained “When I set out on my political journey in 2010, I never expected that I would necessarily be able to emerge triumphant in this constituency in one, two, or even three electoral attempts”.

“Objectively speaking, East Kingstown is the most difficult seat on the mainland for a Labour Party candidate to win. We are fighting against the weight of history. Additionally, we had to contend with a significant swing against the ULP in the last elections. The figures show that there was a swing against us in the constituency of less than one percent. For comparison, the national swing against the ULP on average was 3.0 percent,” Browne noted.

“In assessing the results, we must remember to keep in mind the difficulty of the seat, and the swing against the ULP. If we take these things into consideration, it is possible to come to the conclusion that I was one of the best performing candidates in the last elections.”

Browne, who lost in three consecutive general election attempts- 2010, 2015, and 2020- took a swipe at his opponent at the 2020 polls, stating that “Fitz Bramble was one of the worst performing candidates on the NDP slate.”

He said Bramble “performed far worse than fellow newcomers Laverne Velox and Shevern John when we look at margins and swing. In East Kingstown, we are on a downward trajectory in relation to margin of loss in the period 2010 to 2020.” However, he exuded an air of optimism.

“The elections for us had many bright spots. We gained ground in a hard area like Roseau and won battles in places like Cane Garden, Long Wall, Uptown, Kingstown Hill, Frenches, Dorsetshire Hill and elsewhere.

“We identified some trouble spots and flagged some areas for improvement. We are making targeted interventions. We have a clear strategy and roadmap for victory. This is why I say that we can do it. I would make comments on the strategy at an in-house session in the future,” Browne promised.

“I would like to remind you that we knocked off 322 votes from Arnhim Eustace in one election cycle. Fitz Bramble won the last election by just 247 votes. He is therefore in striking distance. We will take him out in the next elections.”