Wickham hails Mottley Cabinet as a sign of maturity

Political scientist Peter Wickham has praised Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s 23-member, third-term Cabinet as a mark of political maturity, even amid eyebrow-raising returns for former ministers in the previous Freundel Stuart administration that fuelled intense debate on Monday.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY following Monday’s inauguration, Wickham said that while some of the prime minister’s selections “raised eyebrows”, the overall size and structure of the Cabinet reflect a leader consolidating authority and refining her approach to governance.

Among the most talked-about appointments are former Democratic Labour Party stalwarts Christopher Sinckler and Michael Lashley. Sinckler is now a senator and senior minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, while Lashley returns to Cabinet as minister of legal affairs and criminal justice. Sinckler held the finance and foreign affairs portfolios, and Lashley was transport minister in the Stuart administration.

“I think the big surprise to a lot of people was both Chris and Lashley’s inclusion,” Wickham said. While Sinckler’s appointment drew attention, Wickham suggested it was not entirely unexpected.

“Chris was not a surprise, to the extent that it was pretty obvious that the prime minister primed the population by saying that he had assisted in this campaign and also the previous one. It was obvious that he was being primed for something and there it is,” he said.

Still, he cautioned that the success of the appointment will ultimately depend on performance. “The question as to whether or not it is a good idea, I think it’s something that we probably have to see in months to come.”

Wickham expressed confidence in Sinckler’s capabilities, particularly in foreign affairs, noting his previous ministerial experience. “Chris was foreign minister before. I believe that he will make an excellent foreign minister,” he said, adding that the prime minister appears to be returning to the model of appointing a foreign minister without constituency responsibilities.

“It’s clear that the prime minister wanted to go back to this whole idea of having a foreign minister who doesn’t have a constituency to defend because it is rather challenging with the kind of issues that are on the table now,” Wickham said.

He acknowledged, however, that Sinckler’s tenure as finance minister remains a point of public reflection. “Our last reflection on Chris was not a good one. I don’t believe that that reflection speaks to the totality of the individual’s talent,” Wickham argued. “We have to see the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of social care that he was… If the minister of finance is reincarnated, then that’s a different story, but it’s clear that he’s nowhere close to the Ministry of Finance.”

Lashley’s return to Cabinet, Wickham suggested, was more unexpected.

“Lashley, however, was a bit of a surprise,” he said, questioning the move from both a political and personal standpoint. “I’m surprised that he was interested in going back into Cabinet in a position that was, one could say, relatively junior to the one he held before.”

Having previously served in senior portfolios such as Works and Housing, Lashley, a prominent criminal defence attorney, now takes on what Wickham described as “a very weird concoction of things” within the justice ministry. “I still have to be convinced in terms of what exactly it is he’s going to do,” he said.

Nonetheless, Wickham acknowledged that Mottley may see specific value in Lashley’s legal background. “It’s clear that the prime minister believes that he can help with crimeand justice, as a Senior Counsel and so on…”

In contrast, Wickham praised the promotion of Kirk Humphrey from minister of elder affairs to minister of transport and works, describing it as a significant vote of confidence.

“I think Kirk Humphrey is one that will be wildly popular because he’s actually been promoted, not only in terms of the senior ministry, but in terms of the tremendous amount of money that he’s going to be spending,” Wickham said.

With the works ministry currently overseeing extensive road construction, he noted that it is “a particularly capital intensive” portfolio.

Beyond individual appointments, Wickham noted that the overall structure of the Cabinet was noteworthy. “I think it’s interesting that this is actually the smallest Cabinet that she has had,” he said, pointing to what he sees as consolidation of portfolios and responsibilities.“One could argue that there’s a consolidation in terms of those titles and names because there’s a lot of things that are not there that have been subsumed in the other ministries,” he explained. The reduced size, he added, suggests a leader confident in her authority. “It speaks to a person that is not afraid of people not being in the Cabinet or crossing the floor.”

Wickham also noted that the prime minister’s decision to relinquish direct control over several ministries signals growth in leadership style. In his view, the reshaped Cabinet reflects a third-term administration that is more measured, streamlined and assured in its governance approach.