The United Workers Party is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

currently led by former Tourism Minister

Allen Chastanet Allen Michael Chastanet (born 20 November 1960) is a Saint Lucian businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 2016 to 2021. He is currently the Leader of the Opposition of Saint Lucia and the political leader of t ...

, who defeated former Prime Minister

Stephenson King Stephenson King (born 13 November 1958) is the former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is the Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development, and Urban Renewal. King was the former candidate for the Uni ...

in a July 28, 2013 leadership election. The party was led previously by Sir John Compton, the party's founder.

History

The party was formed before the 1964 general elections by an alliance of the People's Progressive Party and the National Labour Movement, a splinter group founded by three members (

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 ...

, Vincent Monrose, and Maurice Mason) from the ruling

Saint Lucia Labour Party The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) is a social democratic political party in Saint Lucia. It currently holds 15 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly. History The party was established in 1949, backed by the Saint Lucia Workers Cooperative Un ...

. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p582

was the political leader and

Henry Giraudy Henry Giraudy, O.B.E., Q.C., was a Saint Lucian politician best known as the co-founder and chairman of the United Workers Party (UWP) from 1964 until his death. Giraudy was born in 1923. He was born and raised in Vieux Fort. He worked as an at ...

was the chairman of the party. They won the elections, taking six of the eight seats. They remained in power after winning elections in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

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; ...

, before losing the 1979 elections to the Labour Party. They returned to power after winning 14 of the 17 seats in the 1982 elections, and remained in power after two elections in 1987 and one in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. The Labour Party won the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

2001 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2001. Africa * 2001 Beninese presidential election * 2001 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 2001 Cape Verdean presidential election * 2001 Chadian presidential election * 2001 Gabonese legislative ...

, but the UWP regained power in the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential e ...

. In 2011 the UWP lost the election to Labour but regained power in the 2016 elections, taking 11 of the 17 seats in the House. The United Workers Party is a member of the

Caribbean Democrat Union The Caribbean Democracy Union is an alliance of moderate, centre-right and conservative political parties and individuals the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in ...

, the regional organization of the global conservative

International Democracy Union The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 fu ...

Leaders

(1964–1996) *

Vaughan Lewis Sir Vaughan Allen Lewis, KCSL CBE (born 17 May 1940), is a Saint Lucian politician and a former member of the United Workers' Party (UWP). He served for a brief period as the fifth Prime Minister of Saint Lucia following the resignation of ...

(1996–1998) *

(1998-2000) *

Morella Joseph Dr. Morella Joseph is a politician in the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia. After the unexpected resignation of Vaughan Lewis, Joseph was elected to the position in October 2000 and became the leader of Saint Lucia's United Workers' Party. ...

(2000-2001) *

(2001-2005) *

(2005–2007) *

(2007–2013) *

(2013–present)

United Workers Party Prime Ministers

Symbol * † Died in office

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Saint Lucian political parties Political parties in Saint Lucia Political parties established in 1964 Christian political parties Conservative parties