The United Workers Party (UWP) is a conservative political party in Saint Lucia currently led by former tourism minister Allen Chastanet, who defeated former prime minister Stephenson King 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, Vincent Monrose, and Maurice Mason) from the ruling Saint Lucia Labour Party.Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p582 John Compton was the political leader and Henry Giraudy 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 and 1974, 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. The Labour Party won the 1997 and 2001 elections, but the UWP regained power in the 2006 elections. Since then neither party has managed to retain office for more than a single term. In 2011 the UWP lost the election to Labour, regained power in the 2016 elections, taking 11 of the 17 seats in the House, only to return to Opposition with just 2 seats after the 2021 election.
The United Workers Party is a member of the Caribbean Democrat Union, the regional organization of the global conservative International Democracy Union.
Leaders John Compton (1964–1996) Vaughan Lewis (1996–1998) John Compton (1998-2000) Morella Joseph (2000-2001) Vaughan Lewis (2001-2005) John Compton (2005–2007) Stephenson King (2007–2013) Allen Chastanet (2013–present)
United Workers Party Prime Ministers Symbol
† Died in office
PortraitNameElectionTerm of officeTook officeLeft officeTime in office1John Compton—22 February 19792 July 197919821987198719923 May 19822 April 1996200611 December 20067 September 2007 †2Vaughan Lewis—2 April 199624 May 19973Stephenson King7 September 200730 November 20114Allen Chastanet20167 June 201628 July 2021
Election results
House of Assembly elections ElectionParty leaderVotes%Seats+/–PositionResult1964John Compton9,61551.5% 6 1st 196913,32858.1% 1st 197417,30053.4% 4 1st 197919,70643.8% 5 2nd 198227,25256.2% 9 1st1987 (6 Apr)25,89252.5% 5 1st 1987 (30 Apr)28,04653.2% 1st 199233,56256.7% 2 1st 1997Vaughan Lewis26,32536.6% 10 2nd 2001Morella Joseph23,00737.8% 2 2nd 2006John Compton38,89451.3% 8 1st 2011Stephenson King39,10046.96% 5 2nd 2016Allen Chastanet46,18354.79% 5 1st 202137,48142.91% 9 2nd 202532,54537.20% 1 2nd
References
External links Official website