2023 Barbuda Council election

2023 Barbuda Council election were held on March 29, 2023. The Barbuda People's Movement prevailed in the elections. The BPM was victorious in the election, taking all four of the available seats, which were also contested by four ABLP candidates and two independent runners. The election was a clean sweep for the BPM. It indicates that the party managed to keep hold of all of the elected seats on the regional governing body.[1][2]

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Trevor Walker stated that the outcome demonstrated the people of Barbuda's "rejection of the idea and ideology" of the ABLP under the leadership of Gaston Browne.[1] The four candidates representing the party that was already in power all ended up with a much bigger number of votes than their challengers.[1] Both Devon Warner, who received 438 votes, and Sharima Deazle, who received 417 votes, were successful in their bids for re-election. John Mussington and Fitzroy Warner, both of whom were running for office for the first time, rounded off the BPM's success by receiving 433 and 395 votes, respectively.[1]

During a broadcast of Observer AM, Walker stated, "We are humbled." "On Tuesday, we forecasted that we would fill all of these seats, and that's exactly what happened. There was not the slightest bit of concern in my mind that the people of Barbuda would turn out to vote for the BPM.[1] Bentham Lewis came in third place on the ABLP ballot with 193 votes, followed by Mackeisha Desouza with 222 votes, Orlando Morris with 220 votes, and Zaria Nedd with 193 votes.[1] Jermaine Desouza and Ordrick Samuel, who were both running as independents, received a total of 113 and 12 votes, respectively, in the election.[1]

Walker said that the BPM team had done "an incredible job" in spite of the constraints imposed by the campaign they were executing.[1] "We campaigned, we knocked on doors, we walked the streets of Barbuda, we had public meetings, and we met as a team," he said. "We campaigned, we knocked on doors, and we walked the streets of Barbuda."[1] The tension that has existed in recent years between the Barbuda Council and the central government has been thoroughly chronicled. Many residents of Barbuda continue to hold a vehement opposition to the sale of land on the sister island as well as the construction of large-scale developments, and the source of the disagreement may be traced back to a protracted dispute over who owns the land.[1]

Walker was also questioned regarding the possibility of a further escalation of those tensions.[1] According to what he had to say, "We anticipate the Prime Minister to ramp up that whole anti-Barbuda crisis." However, we will not give up and will continue to fight.[1] "We are resolved that Barbuda must be managed by us in a way that will benefit the people of Barbuda and we are not going to tolerate anything other than that." "We are determined that Barbuda must be controlled by us in a way that will benefit the people of Barbuda."[1] Every two years, a few of the seats on the Barbuda Council, which has a total membership of 11, come up for election. In the Holy Trinity Primary School, voters cast their ballots from 7:00 AM till 6:00 PM.[1]