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SAINT LUCIA
House of Assembly
ELECTIONS IN 2006

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module

A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name Houses of Parliament
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name House of Assembly
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Senate
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 11 December 2006
Purpose of elections Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Assembly on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
At elections held on 11 December 2006 the ruling St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) sought a third consecutive term in office. The SLP had won 14 of the 17 seats at stake at the last elections in 2001 while the United Workers Party (UWP) had taken the remaining three seats.

In the 2006 elections the UWP was led by veteran politician Sir John Compton who had governed the country from 1964 to independence in 1979 and then from 1982 to 1996.

Prime Minister Kenny Anthony called on voters to support the SLP Government's achievements in the previous two terms. In particular unemployment had fallen from 22 per cent in 1997 to 15 per cent in 2006 and GDP had been on the rise since 2002 growing by a record 5.4 per cent in 2005. The UWP pledged to create 7 000 new jobs particularly in the IT industry and to reduce unemployment to 10 per cent within five years. Pre-election opinion polls predicting an increased majority for the SLP were dismissed by the UWP leadership.

Approximately 58 per cent of the 132 500 registered voters turned out at the polls which were observed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organization of American States (OAS). Both organizations said they were satisfied that the poll had been conducted "in a free and fair manner" but recommended changes to election campaign financing rules in order to curb the ever higher levels of media spending.

To general surprise the final results gave a resounding victory to the opposition UWP. The UWP won 11 seats against six for the SLP even though it received only 2 372 more votes in total. The outgoing Prime Minister and the former Minister of Tourism Mr. Phillip J. Pierre were the only SLP candidates to retain their seats. No women were elected.

Sir John Compton was sworn in as Prime Minister on 15 December 2006. The newly elected House of Assembly held its first session on 9 January 2007. Ms. Sarah Flood-Beaubrun was elected as the new House Speaker becoming the first woman to assume the post.

The Senate whose members are appointed by the Governor General was renewed at the same time as the House. Ms. Rosemary Husband-Mathurin assumed the post of Senate Speaker on 9 January 2007.
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 111 December 2006
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
132'545
77'487 (58.46%)
1'731
75'756
Notes
Distribution of votes
Round no 1
Political Group Candidates Votes %
United Workers Party (UWP) 38'894 51.34
Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) 36'604 48.32
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total Gain/Loss
United Workers Party (UWP) 11 8
Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) 6 -8
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men
Women
Percent of women
17
1
5.56%
Distribution of seats according to age
Distribution of seats according to profession
Comments
Source:
Clerk of Parliament (14.12.2006 10.01.2007)

Note:
The 'Distribution of seats' above refers to the 17 directly elected members. The 'Distribution of seats according to sex' refers to all 18 members of the House of Assembly (17 directly elected members and the Speaker). Ms. Flood-Beaubrun who was not one of the directly elected members became a member of the House by virtue of her election as Speaker.

In November 2007 by-elections were held to fill the seat vacated by former prime minister John Compton who passed away in September. Ms. Jeannine Rambally daughter of former prime minister Compton representing the United Workers Party (UWP) won the seat becoming the first woman to be elected in St. Lucia.

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