Prime Minister Gaston Browne led his ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labor Party (ABLP) to victory in Wednesday’s general election after the party had won nine of the 10 seats declared early Thursday, according to the preliminary figures released by the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC).
Browne, who called the poll more than a year ahead of the constitutional deadline, easily won his St. John’s City West seat, as the ABLP was on track to complete a rout of the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP).
He said he was pleased that the voters in his constituency had “invested in him” adding “I can assure them of bigger and better things to come.”
Browne spoke of several multi-million dollar projects earmarked for the area, which he said would become the “envy of other constituencies over the next five years.”
Meanwhile, the UPP, which was seeking to regain the government it lost in 2014, suffered heavily with both its leader, Harold Lovell and the deputy, Wilmoth Daniel, a veteran politician failing to win their seats.
Lovell was seeking to regain the St. John’s City East seat, which he lost in 2014 to the incumbent Melford Nicholas of the ABLP.
Nicholas polled 769 votes as against 616 for Lovell and 16 votes for Bruce Goodwin of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA).
“This is a historic time for the people of Barbuda,” Walker said, noting that this is the first time that a candidate has won the seat by more than 100 seats.
In Barbuda, the ABLP lost the sole seat when Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) easily defeated the incumbent Arthur Nibbs of the ABLP by 568 to 429 votes.
In the 2014 general election, the ABLP had won 14 of the 17 seats at stake. The remaining three seats had gone to the UPP.
Browne is scheduled to be sworn in on Thursday.
 to victory in Wednesday’s general election after the party had won nine of the 10 seats declared early Thursday.){kind=link}