Social Commentator and Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline (left) has said he will do the work necessary to get Hon Luce D. Hodge-Smith (R4) (right) re-elected at the next general election. Photo: Facebook

Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline said Mark. H. Vanterpool does not fall into the category of ancestral Virgin Islander to be Premier. Photo: Facebook

“I want to disclaim here, in regard to… the Hon Luce Hodge-Smith, the elected representative for the Fourth District, that I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that Luce Hodge-Smith is re-elected,” he said during his radio show, Honestly Speaking, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. 

He had a special two-hour radio programme titled ‘The Problems are Deeper than an Election’, where Hon Hodge-Smith was the guest for the second hour. 

‘I have a bias’

“I want to put that out there; I want you to know that I have a bias, I have already made a decision. I don’t want you guessing about that.”

Mr Skelton-Cline said one thing he will do is not lie to his audience but to tell the truth, even when it is inconvenient to him or them. 

“So I am going to do everything in my power to provide Luce [what she needs].”

He said he was allowing her to speak and put forward her agenda during the programme. “[To lay out] what has transpired, what has taken place, and what’s about to happen.”

Mark H. Vanterpool running in the Fourth

Former legislator and now leader of the newly formed People’s Leadership Movement (PLM), Mr Mark H. Vanterpool has declared his candidacy for the Fourth District. 

Mr Skelton-Cline has publicly denounced Mr Vanterpool’s approach to politics and said he does not support him for Premier of the Virgin Islands, as he is not "an ancestral Virgin Islander". 

He also accused Mr Vanterpool and the PLM of splitting the National Democratic Party (NDP) votes, describing the PLM as “NDP 4”.