The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) is a social democratic political party in Saint Lucia. It currently holds 13 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly.

History

The party was established in 1949, backed by the Saint Lucia Workers Cooperative Union. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p581 In the first elections held under universal suffrage in 1951, and led by party founder

George Charles Sir George Frederick Lawrence Charles (7 June 1916 – 26 July 2004) was a trade unionist, politician, founder of the Saint Lucia Labour Party and Chief Minister of Saint Lucia (1 January 1960 – 22 April 1964). He is a recipient of Saint Lucia's ...

, the party won five of the eight seats. It retained all five seats in the 1954 elections, and increased their majority to seven of the eight seats 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 ...

and nine of the ten seats in 1961. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, the party lost an election for the first time, with the United Workers Party, born out of a schism from within the Labour Party led by

John Compton Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first Prime Minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton ser ...

and eventual merger of the breakaway faction with the People's Progressive Party, winning six of the ten seats, with the Labour Party reduced to two. It gained a seat in the 1969 elections, and increased their representation to seven seats in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, although the UWP remained in power as the total number of seats rose to 17. The Labour Party returned to power after winning the 1979 elections (12/17), led by Allan Louisy, replaced as Prime Minister during the term by

Winston Cenac Winston Francis Cenac Q.C. (14 September 1925 – 22 September 2004) was a civil servant and politician from Saint Lucia. He was the third elected Prime Minister of independent Saint Lucia. He served as General Procurator for Saint Lucia, Sain ...

, himself replaced by

Michael Pilgrim Bryan Michael Pilgrim (born 3 January 1947) is a Saint Lucian politician. He served as 4th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (Acting Prime Minister) after the resignation of Winston Cenac on 17 January 1982. As agreed he served for four months and on ...

. The 1979 elections were the first elections held following independence from the United Kingdom, declared on 22 February 1979. It lost the 1982 elections to Compton's UWP when they were reduced to just two seats, challenged on their left by a breakaway faction, George Odlum's Progressive Labour Party taking 1 seat. It remained in opposition following the two elections of April 1987, increasing its presence to 8 seats in both contests, and in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

(6/17). Led by Dr. Kenny Anthony, former cabinet minister in the 1979–1982 government, it won the 1997 elections, taking 16 of the 17 seats. It remained in power after the 2001 elections (14/17). It lost the 2006 elections to the UWP, who had called back

as leader a year before - he had retired in 1996. Kenny Anthony remained leader of the party throughout its time as

loyal opposition Loyal opposition in terms of politics, refers to specific political concepts that are related to the opposition parties of a particular political system. In many Westminster-style parliamentary systems of government, the loyal opposition indicate ...

. The Labour Party won the 2011 Saint Lucian general election (28 November 2011), winning in 11 out of a 17-seats contest and defeating UWP leader Stephenson King who had succeeded John Compton as Prime Minister (d. 2007, in office). The Labour Party lost the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic * 2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 ...

to the UWP by 11 seats to 6, and Kenny Anthony resigned as party leader. Former Deputy PM

Philip J. Pierre Philip Joseph Pierre (born 18 September 1954) is a Saint Lucian politician currently serving as the prime minister of Saint Lucia since 28 July 2021. Pierre serves as the Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy. He is the ...

was confirmed as party leader on 18 June 2016.

Saint Lucia Labour Party Prime Ministers

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Former member parties of the Socialist International Labour parties Political parties in Saint Lucia Socialist parties in North America