Background
The Bahamas is dominated by two parties: the left of center Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), and the right of center Free National Movement (FNM). The Free National Movement party came to power in the 1992 election, under the leadership of Hubert Ingraham. After winning the 1997 election and having now served 10 years as prime minister, Ingraham announced that he would step down from the FNM before the start of the 2002 election. Tommy Turnquest then took over the party leadership of the FNM, and many voters, including FNM supporters, felt that Turnquest was much "weaker" than the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, Perry Christie. The 2002 election saw a PLP victory with Perry Christie becoming prime minister. After their victory, the PLP focussed and worked on improving and attracting foreign investments for the islands as well as further growing the all important tourism sector within the Bahamas. Many were confident that a PLP victory in 2007 was possible as the GDP had grown 4% since they took control of the government in 2002. During the FNM party's November 2005 convention, Hubert Ingraham was elected leader of the party after he had expressed that he would like to return to the party ahead of the 2007 election. Back under the strong leadership of Ingraham, the FNM party became energised when scandal emerged within the PLP. American celebrity