The New Democratic party (NDP) of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is celebrating a historic landslide victory, taking 14 of 15 seats, according to preliminary results.
The decisive vote was a crushing defeat for the Unity Labour party (ULP), which has been in power since 2001.
The outgoing prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves, was the only ULP candidate to hold on to their seat in the elections where there was a severe decline in the party’s previous nine-seat majority.
Gonsalves, the Caribbean’s longest-serving prime minister, will hand over the reins to the NDP’s Godwin Friday.
“Looks like a giant has fallen in Vincy,” Peter Wickham, a regional political analyst, said on Facebook as it became apparent that Gonsalves, a prominent climate justice and slavery reparations advocate, was going to lose the elections.
Other governments in the region congratulated Friday on the result. Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, who is dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, described the election as “an important moment for the Vincentian people”.
He said on X: “I wish Dr Friday every success as he undertakes the responsibility of national leadership, and I pray God’s guidance and wisdom upon him in the work ahead. Jamaica values its close friendship with St Vincent and the Grenadines, and we look forward to strengthening our cooperation as we continue to build a more resilient and prosperous Caribbean region together.”
Taiwan’s ambassador to SVG, Fiona Fan, also congratulated Friday. The NDP has previously proposed severing relations with Taiwan and restoring ties with China. This year’s NDP manifesto made no mention of ending ties with Taipei, however, and the party had been criticised for failing to clarify its position on the issue.