#BTSpeakingOut – Whither the DLP?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY. 

by David Brathwaite

I crave your indulgence in allowing me to make a significant analytical point that I missed in my letter to the editor that was published as a guest column in Barbados Today on January 31st.

I had noted that the BLP improved by approximately 18,000 votes over its historical average, whereas around 31,000 of its historical average pool of 61,000 voters have drifted away from the DLP.

I mentioned that the disaffected DLP voters were ripe for the taking by a savvy third party.
But a more penetrating analysis shows that roughly 57 percent (18,000 out of 31,000) of the voters lost to the DLP were captured by the BLP in the 2022 election, while the remaining 43 percent of their disenchanted voters either stayed away from the polls or voted for other parties.

Put another way, the DEMs lost around 29 per cent (18,000 out of 61,000) of their average historical base to the BLP in the 2022 election.

No political party can surrender such a large slice of its base to its opponents and hope to survive in th long term.

It is quite possible that this shift from the DLP could be transitory and could be recaptured by new dynamic leadership, revitalised, and reimagined programs, and fresh, up-to-date public relations strategies.

However, I fear that that mountain continues to get steeper as time passes because much of the new BLP support is likely among younger voters, and it is known that people, as they grow older, tend to continue to vote for the party for whom they first voted. Additionally, generations of young people have only known failed DLP administrations versus successful ones by the BLP.

Thus, unless the current trends can be reversed very soon, they portend a terrible future for the Democratic Labour Party.