Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell. Photo: NDC Facebook page

Mitchell, an attorney who will be leading the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) into a second consecutive general election, did not name the date for nomination of candidates. But according to the official Government Gazette, in an extraordinary publication, “the date for nomination of candidates shall be 15th October, 2026.”

The NDC is expected to face a challenge from the main opposition New National Party (NNP) headed by Emmalin Pierre, who succeeded former prime minister and party founder Dr Keith Mitchell as leader. Mitchell bowed out of active politics last week, telling a special sitting of Parliament “no one voted me out” after 42 years as the parliamentary representative for the constituency of St George’s North West.

Pierre became leader in 2024 and will become the first woman to lead the party into a general election.

The Democratic People’s Movement (DPM), launched on 16 November last year by former foreign affairs minister Peter David, is also expected to contest the 15 seats in Parliament.

Prime Minister Mitchell, in a short statement to supporters at the party’s campaign and candidate launch in St Mark on the northwest coast of the island, said he is confident of winning the elections, saying that some supporters were calling for a clean sweep of all 15 seats in Parliament.

In the last Parliament, the NDC enjoyed a 9–6 majority, with the NNP being the only party in Grenada’s political history to have won all the seats on three occasions in the past.

“I shall not keep you waiting much longer,” he told supporters, noting that the conch shell, the hard, spiral-shaped outer home of a large, tropical sea snail, which the NDC uses instead of a bell to announce a significant political event, would soon be blown.

“And so tonight, tonight, we sound the conch shell again. Let us get ready for the song of the conch shell. So, you’ve heard the call. You’ve heard the shell. The decision now belongs to you.

“And therefore, general elections will be held on 5 November 2026. So, on 5 November, when we touch down in St Mark, the whole place will be shell down. When we touch down in St Mark, the whole place will be shell down,” Mitchell said.

He told supporters that the 15 candidates have been presented and “you’ve seen them, you’ve heard some of them. “You understand that we are about service…and that we are asking you humbly and respectfully to continue with the team that is the National Democratic Congress to make sure that you, me, us are ready for more and ready to take Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique forward.

“And remember, from tomorrow, it’s boots, boots, boots, boots on the ground,” he added.