Social commentator and talk show host Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline said he is actively lookiing for 13 new people to contest the next general election in the Virgin Islands. Photo: Facebook

Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline has said he can give up on the current members of the House of Assembly but not on the Virgin Islands. Photo: House of Assembly

Skelton-Cline said he is now “actively looking for a new thirteen” during the February 4, 2026, airing of Honestly Speaking on ZBVI 780 AM, while holding up a t-shirt that read ‘All 13 must Go’. 

The t-shirt, he said, was given to him. 

Skelton-Cline said he was speaking earnestly to those willing to bring a brand new thirteen together. 

Time to 'recruit' 

He asked, “Can I say some things and still be loved?” 

“Let me tell you why. Since the National Democratic Party, as we know it, is no longer able to function and offer this country a viable alternative, it is incumbent upon me and all of the interested persons to identify, recruit, form, put together a group, a credible group, who can be presented to this country as a viable alternative in the next general election.”

Skelton-Cline said if the options are between current Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) and Hon Marlon A. Penn (R8) of the National Democratic Party (NDP), “we might as well let Sowande finish us off”. 

He reiterated that he is “actively looking” for a new group saying, “It’s 85 seconds to midnight, we are facing major challenges globally, regionally and locally and I don’t see, and I don’t hear from amongst the people in our House of Assembly who seem to think that it’s easier just to be combative for the sake of combative rather than rational and reason together about the interest of this country.”

Current party system has 'failed'

Skelton-Cline added that while he can give up on the current members of the House of Assembly, he cannot give up on the country and refuses to become cynical, although he can. 

“Life is too precious, what Jehovah God has granted us is too sacred, too much of a responsibility for our children and our grandchildren, for me to sit here and just watch us descend into madness.” 

He continued that while he does not know what the outcome may be, one must be found as “the current party systems have failed us”. 

A Facebook page, All 13 Must Go, began in 2025. The page has been promoting the same slogan and the t-shirt Skelton-Cline spoke of on his radio show.