Mara Thompson Has Won St. John Seat In By-election

Mara Thompson in the January 20, by-election following the death of her husband the late Prime Minister David Thompson, has secured the St. John seat for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

In what can be described as nothing more than a landslide victory. The St. John battle for a candidate to represent that easterly parish unanimously went to Ms. Mara Thompson, in terms of polling districts. Ms. Thompson has won at all 15 polling districts.

In the final analysis Ms. Thompson claimed 4613, or 89 percent of the votes, while Mr. Hudson Griffith claimed 553, or 11 percent of the votes. Voter turnout was some 61 percent of the total expected to vote.

 Mr. Hudson Griffith has now loss his security deposit at the treasury, having been a defeated candidate who fails to secure more than one sixth of the valid votes polled in the constituency.

The Constituency is divided into 15 polling districts, with some 8464 eligible voters. This seat has been a DLP stronghold for some 52 years, and therefore there is no surprise here, that the wife of the former representative of that constituency would handsomely win this by-election.

In the last general election of 2008, former representative of the area, the Late David Thompson, secured some 4300 of 5129 valid votes, or a whooping 83%, whereas the BLP representative Mr. Tyronne Power won 829, or 17%.

Mr. Power has since been replaced by Mr. Hudson Griffith, who has admitted he will used this time to get to further know the people of St. John in preparation for the general election of 2013.

The 2011 by-election has saw polling stations close at 6:00pm, and the beginning of the counting process at around 8:00pm for a process which took about two hours to be completed.

The 2011 has been tainted by accusations of persons being offered money to vote in a particular manner, as these are all allege the Prime Minister, Mr. Freundel Stuart has stated that if there is any breech in the electoral laws of Barbados then the law will have to take its course against those involved.

Mr. Stuart said these situations are nothing new as during the general election of 2008 he faced this situation which was working against him in the St. Michael South Constituency.