General elections were held in

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea w ...

on 9 December 1974. Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p600 The result was a victory for the

Saint Vincent Labour Party The Saint Vincent Labour Party was a social democratic political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 1955 to 1994. It was the ruling party from 1967 to 1972 and again from 1974 until 1984. History The party was established in 1955. Nohl ...

, which won ten of the 13 seats. Voter turnout was 63.2%.

Background

After the 1972 elections, the People's Political Party (PPP) and the

(SVLP) both won six seats. The People's Political Party (PPP) managed to form a government with the support of the remaining MP James Mitchell, who won reelection as an independent after resigning from the SVLP. The "Alliance Government" was formed with Mitchell as Premier and PPP leader

Ebenezer Joshua Ebenezer Theodore Joshua (23 May 1908 – 14 March 1991) was a Vincentian politician and the first chief minister of Saint Vincent from 1960 to 1967. He was the Leader of the Legislative Council from 1956 to 1961. Early life and career ...

as Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance. On 18 September 1974, the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

passed a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

; Ebenezer and Ivy Joshua had just resigned from the government due to policy disagreements with Mitchell. The Assembly was then dissolved on 23 September 1974. Nomination day was 18 November 1974.

Candidates

A total of 31 candidates were nominated by five different political parties. Out of the parties in the Assembly, the SVLP had the largest contingent with eleven candidates. Mitchell and PPP minister Othniel Sylvester founded a splinter party and nominated eleven candidates, while the PPP nominated only three candidates. In addition, two new political parties contested the elections. The Democratic Freedom Movement was founded by Kenneth John to advocate for political reforms such as

recall elections A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of off ...

, term limits, and campaign financing regulation; it nominated two candidates. The West Indies National Party was led by George Hamilton Charles, founder of the Eighth Army of Liberation and former Majority Leader of the Legislative Council (1951–1957); the party nominated four candidates (including Charles).

Results

The SVLP won a decisive victory with ten seats, giving party leader

Milton Cato Robert Milton Cato (3 June 1915 – 10 February 1997) was a socialist Vincentian politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and also held the offices Premier of Saint Vincent and Chief Minister ...

his second term as Premier. Mitchell was the only successful candidate from his new party, and the Joshuas were the only successful PPP candidates. While Ebenezer Joshua joined the government as Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Ivy Joshua decided to remain in opposition rather than support a coalition with the SVLP. She then became Leader of the Opposition instead of Mitchell. In

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

, Ebenezer and Ivy had become the first married couple to be elected to a parliament of the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

; now they became the first couple to serve on opposite benches.

References

{{Saint Vincent and the Grenadines elections Saint Vincent Elections in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1974 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines