Opposition Leader Philip J. Pierre announced today that the Saint Lucia Labour Party has endorsed two new candidates for the next general election. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament building, Pierre noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the party to change gears in campaigning efforts, and that they will utilize social media to host town halls. House-to-house visits and mass crowd gatherings are no longer an option. However, the party is still getting prepared.
Said Pierre: “The executive of the party has just endorsed two new candidates for Castries South East and Soufriere. The Castries South East candidate is Senator Joachim Henry and the Soufriere candidate is the former Minister of Commerce Ms. Emma Hippolyte.” He announced that the opposition’s senators will be rotated “very soon.” The current Castries South East and Soufriere MPs are Guy Joseph and Herold Stanislas respectively.
Who are the SLP’s two new candidates?
Emma Hippolyte served as the member of parliament for Gros Islet from 2011-2016. Per data from the Saint Lucia Electoral Department, Hippolyte received 5,242 votes in 2011 general election, defeating the United Workers Party’s Lenard “Spider” Montoute who received 5,236. She lost the seat in 2016 as Montoute received 6,344 votes to Hippolyte’s 4,552.
In the 2016 general election, current Castries South East MP Guy Joseph recorded 4,325 votes, defeating Joachim Henry, who had 3,169. Henry was subsequently sworn in as a senator, and serves as the leader of opposition business in the Senate. Henry was chosen to contest the Castries South East seat again over businesswoman and political newcomer Lisa Jawahir, who also expressed interest in contesting the next election on an SLP ticket.
To date, the SLP has revealed three candidates for the next election. Last October, the organisation announced that Wayne Girard would go up against Anse La Raye/Canaries MP Dominic Fedee for the constituency.
