Chamber:
	House of Assembly
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	23 May 1997
Purpose of elections:
	General elections were held for all the seats in the House of Assembly on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Following the previous (April 1992) general elections, Prime Minister John Compton (United Workers Party - UWP) resigned from his post in March 1996 and was succeeded the next month by Mr. Vaughan Lewis. A new, expanded Cabinet was then announced. In the 1997 elections, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP), under its new leader Kenny Anthony, won a landslide victory over the long-ruling, conservative UWP, which had been in power for all but a brief three-year period (1979-1982) since 1964. On polling day, it managed to retain only one of the 11 seats it had held as even Mr. Lewis went down to defeat in his constituency. The socialist SLP, on the other hand, jumped from six to 16 seats. In this context, Mr. Anthony became Prime Minister and his Cabinet was formed on 26 May.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (23 May 1997): Elections results
Number of registered electors	111,330
Voters	73,535 (66.05%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	1,563
Valid votes	71,972

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP)	44,153	69.04
United Workers Party (UWP)	26,325	35.80
Independents	1,494	2.03

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP)	16	+10
United Workers Party (UWP)	1	-10
Independents	0	=

Comments:
	These figures refer only to the elective seats

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	15
Women:	2
Percent of women:	11.11

Distribution of seats according to age:
21-30 years	2
31-40 years	3
41-50 years	7
51-60 years	3
61-70 years	2
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Lawyers	5
Farmers	3
Management consultants	2
Others	7