No room for Independent Candidates; Its VIP & NDP show
Since Independent Candidate, J. Alvin Christopher last won in 2007 to represent the second district, no other Independent Candidate has won a seat in the House of Assembly (HoA).
Some had speculated that former Legislator, Myron V. Walwyn could have possibly been strong enough to run as an independent candidate, however, the results of the 2019 polls demonstrated that he was convincingly defeated.
Two independent losers
In the 2019 elections, there were two Independent Candidates out of the 41 prospects; former Legislators, R. Dancia Penn-Sallah QC, OBE who ran as an At-Large Independent and Dr Kedrick D. Pickering who ran in the Seventh District.
Both lost their bids with Ms Penn-Sallah receiving a mere 1,607 votes placing 12th out of 16 At-Large candidates and this will make her running for the fourth time and winning once.
She won in 2007 in the eighth district with the ruling Virgin Islands Party (VIP) and ran unsuccessfully in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
Lessons
Then there is Dr Pickering who served 20 consecutive years from 1999-2019 with the National Democratic Party (NDP 1). After he was kicked out of the party by Mr Walwyn, he ran independent and lost to Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley aka 'Showande Uhuru.'
He came in second in a three-man race with 338 votes to Hon Wheatley’s 384. The NDP1's Hipolito D. Penn came in third with 136 votes.
The lesson learnt is that the country remains a two-party jurisdiction of VIP and NDP with Independent Candidates having a slim to almost impossible chance of winning a seat.
14 Responses to “No room for Independent Candidates; Its VIP & NDP show”
Independent 1 though a long term rep in the eastern end of Tortola could not earn the re-election confidence of the voters, didn’t have much to show for terms in office, didn’t explain why he supported the questionable decisions of the incumbent government, lost the confidence of voters, violated rule 1 take care of your district, association with a failed government........etc.
Independent 2 though highly qualified with an impressive resume failed to connect with the voters. Contributing factors to the failure and lack of interest a)lack of resources, b)indecisiveness about running, c)habitual late start in running/getting in the ring, d) lack of hard work needed by an independent candidate, e)past performance in office......etc.