De Peiza concedes defeat, says party to regroup after another historic loss

By Marlon Madden

President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Verla De Peiza conceded defeat after her party suffered a second consecutive 30-nil thrashing at the polls by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), admitting that the party will have to “regroup” and decide whether she would be the one to take it forward.

In circumstances reminiscent of the May 2018 general elections when the BLP had a clean sweep, the DLP failed to win a single seat in Wednesday’s polls, called a year and a half earlier than constitutionally due.

“The Democratic Labour Party will concede, as we must,” De Peiza said as she addressed the media at the party’s George Street headquarters in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

“Our only concern is that the voter turnout continues to be depressed and I do believe we have to take a serious look at that going forward, as to how we reclaim the confidence of our people in the process of democracy,” she said.

“Outside of that, as far as our team is concerned, we will regroup, we will decide, not tonight but sometime in the future, what it is that we’re doing,” she added.

De Peiza, who lost the race in the St Lucy constituency to Barbados Labour Party (BLP) incumbent Peter Phillips, said part of that decision would be who will lead the DLP.

“I do believe that for me, personally – the rest can speak for themselves – I am proud of what I have accomplished, along with them for the Democratic Labour Party,” she said.

De Peiza congratulated BLP leader Mia Mottley and her team on their victory.

However, she reiterated that among her concerns coming out of the general election were the timing of the polls and the low voter turnout.

“The voter turnout continues to be worrisome and we have to look for ways to address that before we find ourselves in a position where we’ve lost our democracy without intending it,” she added.

The DLP leader, who was accompanied by DLP Campaign Manager Steve Blackett, General Secretary Derek Alleyne, and unsuccessful candidates Nicholas Alleyne, Pedro Shepherd, Dr Ronnie Yearwood, and Curtis Cave, said while she was disappointed with the results, she was pleased with the showing of the DLP candidates during the campaign period, and the “stellar” manifesto the party produced.

Prior to De Peiza’s arrival at DLP headquarters just before 2 a.m., the candidate for Christ Church West Central Rennette Dimmott left the location.

Two of the DLP first-timers – Yearwood and Shepherd – spoke to Barbados TODAY following their defeat to Sandra Husbands and Santia Bradshaw, respectively.

They both indicated they were already planning on returning to the political ring when the next election bell is rung. In fact, they said Barbadians could look forward to seeing them in the communities.

“The intention is never to leave . . . . I am committed to country, the constituency and to party, and it is important that we have that type of commitment in politics,” said Yearwood. “The type of campaign that I ran and the message I was putting out there, it resonated with people and they understood the direction I am trying to point the country in, and eventually that should break through because we need a politics and a new generation of politicians. That is where we are at the moment.”

Meanwhile, veteran educator Shepherd said he had no doubt the DLP had done some rebuilding following the 2018 election, but blamed the low turnout for the depressing performance of the DLP at the 2022 polls.

“In St Michael South East I have fought a good fight. I was not successful but I will continue to do what I have been doing in St Michael South East for the last 34 years. Being in the political fray for the first time has given me the encouragement really to be back out again, so I will be visible in St Michael South East,” he said.

Despite the DLP’s crushing defeat, Shepherd said that overall, “the party did well” and he was encouraged to continue in the political arena.

“The turnout at the polls was obviously low and it is shown in the results. We noticed that even though the Barbados Labour Party has won the election they have certainly lost [some votes] in almost every constituency, if not every constituency, so they are definitely not as popular as they were in 2018,” he surmised.

“While canvassing you were getting the impression that people wanted an opposition in Parliament, the result obviously suggested otherwise, but I believe going forward the Democratic Labour Party will continue to do what it has to do for the people of Barbados and we are not going to lie down and play dead certainly.

“We will obviously have to do some introspection and really see what it is that the public of Barbados wants from the Democratic Labour Party and we will come again. I will certainly come again,” added Shepherd.