Virgin Islands Party Candidate for District Three, Dr Arlene L. Smith-Thompson. VINO/File

Sea Cows Bay, Tortola. Photo: Internet Source

Dr Smith-Thompson who is a UK citizen by birth with VI heritage, said she spent about forty years living in the territory, haveing gone to school and working in both private and the public sectors. She said she is now primed to take on the political role given her educational background and vast experience.

Fitting the Mould

 “I may not fit the mould of what some persons would consider a typical politician, in some respect I may have broken that mould, I may be soft-spoken but it doesn’t mean I cannot command attention, I believe in results based leadership and participatory leadership,” Dr Smith-Thompson said.

Questioned on why she took on the role, the VIP Candidate was affirmative that she has great qualities in management, a good educational background as well as good leadership skills, “I recently completed a Doctorate in Education. My focus [was] on technical vocational studies and I thought, what am I going to do with this? A number of my very close friends [said], do you just want to sit in an institution with this tertiary degree or do you want to do something else where you can influence policy?” she said.

Leap of faith

Dr Smith-Thompson further went on to say that she eventually took the leap when an opportunity presented itself in the third district after she realised that there was somewhat of a vacuum being created in terms of VIP representation in that district. “I studied it for a while, how things were developing and of course I do believe strongly in the principles that the party stands for, we’re going to be celebrating 47 years of existence”.

She said the VIP is a party with a strong history of improvement and advancement of the people of the Virgin Islands, “I’m happy to be affiliated with such an organisation, and as I looked at how things were unfolding in the district [3], I thought well… why not give it a try and see what happens, and here I am.”

Host Skelton-Cline said the political arena indeed needs new vision and new blood with a love for people in agreeing with Dr Smith-Thompson on taking the leap. She says she plans to support the national goals of the government if elected and where education is concerned, as a D3 Representative she will seek out ways to support youths who are facing challenges early on in their lives.