Mia Mottley leads Barbados Labour Party to historic third clean sweep at the polls

PM Mottley speaks to supporters (Credit: Barbados Today)

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley secured her third election victory, with her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) sweeping all seats in the island nation’s House of Assembly, state broadcaster CBC Barbados reported early on Thursday.

Mottley’s BLP won all 30 available seats, defeating opposition leader Ralph Thorne, after the Prime Minister built one of the strongest global profiles of any Caribbean leader and garnered support from voters across the country.
“Our mission, first and foremost, is to stop poor people from being poor and to remove injustice wherever it exists, in order to create opportunities for people,” Mottley said in her victory speech on election night.

Surrounded by supporters dressed in red, she announced that Friday would be a public bank holiday in Barbados.
The 60-year-old Prime Minister also pledged to safeguard Barbados’ democracy, which last year marked 75 years since people earned the right to vote without owning property.

Her party has vowed to continue focusing on the economy, the cost of living, and the Caribbean nation’s place on the international stage.
“The result is disappointing,” Thorne said from the headquarters of the opposition Democratic Labour Party, although he expressed gratitude for a clean campaign.

The opposition has criticised issues relating to security and infrastructure, with Thorne saying policy should prioritise Barbadians’ domestic concerns.
Barbados is the Caribbean’s easternmost country, home to around 283,000 people, and is a little over half the size of Singapore. (Reuters)