Host of Honestly Speaking, Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline on the October 6, 2026 airing of his show. Photo: Facebook

Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline said he cannot support Mark H. Vanterpool based on the principle that the Office of Premier should be preserved and protected for the perpetuation of a Virgin Islander by ancestry. Photo: Office of the Premier

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

During his show on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Skelton-Cline said that was a view he shared with Vanterpool in a space where politicians go before the National Democratic Party (NDP) held its National Convention in April. 

“Honourable Vanterpool and I share a good relationship; he calls me pastor, I call him Honourable Vanterpool…He came that day, seeking support, and I asked him a few questions.”

According to Skelton-Cline, one such question posed to Vanterpool was in reference to him seeking Chairmanship of the NDP and if he could become Premier of the Virgin Islands. “He said yes.”

Premier is an office to be preserved & protected

“I said, well, Honourable Vanterpool, I want to tell you something, in the presence of these other people. I said I don’t want you to get up from this table thinking that you have my support because you do not.”

Skelton-Cline said he explained it was not because he questioned Vanterpool’s competence but was based on principle. 

“I believe it is the last seat, the last office in this country of the hundreds of offices in this country; it is the singular office that needs to be preserved and protected for the perpetuation of a Virgin Islander by ancestry, either from their mother’s house or from their father’s house.” Vanterpool, he said, unfortunately does not fit in that category. 

I’m concerned about the dilution of the VI identity

Skelton-Cline said he explained to Vanterpool that he was not thinking about 2026 but 2086. 

“I’m concerned about the dilution of the Virgin Islands identity in this country. And that as fiduciaries, gatekeepers of this country, we are not preserving, we are not protecting, we’re not honouring any of our history, we are not putting the guardrails in place to ensure that there is some benefit that is specific to Virgin Islanders. I shared that with him.”

According to him, Vanterpool understood his point of view but said that he has to do what he has to do. 

Be with us, but not in a leadership post

He recounted that he told Vanterpool, “I think you need to be with us, but you don’t need to be in the leadership post.”

These thoughts, Skelton-Cline said, he shared openly with Vanterpool and that there was no falling out between the two. 

“Those of you who are not willing to speak about this, it is because of the sensitivity of it and because you all are not willing to be honest with people in love,” Skelton-Cline said.