News broke early Friday morning that Dr Ronnie Yearwood, president of the Democratic Labour Party, and general secretary Steve Blackett had been expelled by the party’s General Council when it met on Thursday.
In interview with Barbados TODAY Dr Yearwood shared his thoughts on its implications for both the party and the broader political landscape in Barbados, in his own words. He expressed disappointment over the expulsion, viewing it as a turning point for the DLP and a reflection of deeper internal conflicts. Yearwood remains committed to public service, emphasising the need for new politics centred on accountability, transparency, and creating opportunities for young people. Despite the challenges he faces, he expressed a determination to continue advocating for these values and believes that the party must now reassess its direction to remain relevant.
[Barbados TODAY]
Many Barbadians woke up this morning to the news that you, president of the Democratic Labour Party, along with Mr Steve Blackett, have been expelled from the party. What are your thoughts on this latest development?
[Dr Ronnie Yearwood]
Firstly, let me say to all the people who have messaged, texted, and expressed their concern and love for myself, my family, my friends, and my loved ones who woke up to this news. I want to say thank you for your support, your prayers, and your well wishes. It’s really appreciated, and that is something that I would really want to put out there and include in any story. At the end of the day, it is about people; it’s about doing what you do in public service to ensure that there are better communities for the people that you care and love… so that everyone can have a life that is decent and be able to achieve the dreams and the things that they want.
Secondly, I want to say that like many Barbadians, I also woke up to the news of this supposed or purported expulsion because I had not received any calls, messages, or anything from those claiming or purporting to be the hierarchy of the Democratic Labour Party. So that should also be an indication of basic common decency through the door. What I would say is that this is a really dark day for the party and for the country as well, and it’s a dark day for democracy because the fact is that you need two functioning parties in a country, and there is no one at this present moment who, with a straight face, can claim the Democratic Labour Party is functioning the way that a political party should function. The party has seen and has been here before; other political parties in the Caribbean and even the Barbados Labour Party have gone through periods of this nature. Perhaps sometimes what makes these things seem different is the intensity of our technology, the speed at which the news travels, and the fact that it’s a 24-hour news cycle constantly going, going, going. This is to really bring into focus in my mind that something is off here. Today should signal to Barbadians what they want for their party and what they want for their country. I will say I think it’s up to the membership of this party to decide the direction that they want for the party and then the direction that they want for the country. My whole mantra has been about new politics; that is what we try to practice. Unfortunately, there’s been a disturbing trend among some who reject that idea of change, that idea of a newness to do things differently, and try to have a disregard for rules and abort and promote a lack of accountability and transparency. The DLP issue really comes across as a national issue, and in many ways, we try to put new wine in old wineskins, and this is where we are. But what I will say is that the membership of this party will have to decide what they want for this party, they will have to make their stand, and they would have to come to that place of whether we want to continue on a particular road or we really want to, as a party, as a country, enter that new politics, enter that space where we provide opportunities for young people, where we promote the leadership of young people, and where we try to do things differently for our country because everyone always talks about change, everyone talks about they want to see different things, they want to see more accountability, they want to see less corruption, they want to see all these things.
But when you are presented with that moment to make that choice, the question is, do we make it? And talking to some friends and family, it’s interesting. I think the party, in a way, at this moment, Errol Barrow’s words are kind of ringing loud, and as I said, it comes back to the members because they have to consider; they have to reflect on the image of the party and the image of the country because the country, the region, and dare I say the world is watching and there’s a choice; this is a fork in the road moment, and you would have to have that moment of self-reflection to make that choice and make that stand. Where do you see the Democratic Labour Party in the sphere of Barbadian politics and regional politics, and where do you see the future of the country at the moment?
[Barbados TODAY]
When you took up the mantle of president of the Democratic Labour Party, some saw you as bringing new life into the organisation, even suggesting you represented a future beyond the next election. With this latest upheaval, some say it could bring your political career to a halt. Do you share the view that your political prospects of leadership are essentially over?
[Dr Ronnie Yearwood]
I explained about my political career because, if you know me well enough, I don’t talk about politics as a career because politics is not a job. Politics is a vocation; it’s a calling. You feel compelled to serve your people.
Public service is not easy. It is hard. It’s hard work.
It calls for sometimes a faith in things you definitely can’t see. It calls for strength, it calls for resilience, and it is not, and it’s never been about a career for me. I am only here to do what the people would want me to do. That’s why it says it keeps coming back to the membership. I will continue to serve in all the capacities that I have served in all of my life, from since I was a teenager, whether it’s Youth Council, Youth Parliament, all of these are things that I’ve been doing, whether it’s the environmental youth groups, all of these are things that I’ve always done because it’s all about service, you know, and there will always be opportunities, I think, for you to serve your people, whether it’s in your church group, whether it is in whatever ways that you want to bring that sense of service and duty to country and duty to a community and people. When I returned to Barbados, I think it was about six years ago now; that was always at the top of my mind because, in my view, I had gone away to learn, to see, to gain things that could help my country. That was always the view, and the goal has always been to try to create an environment where young people can always be the best of themselves in Barbados and to see the best of themselves reflected in their institutions. And, you know, why I said it was a dark day for the party and the country, and it’s not even really about myself or Steve Blackett, you know, I think sometimes people get caught up in that, Steve or Ronnie, no, no, it’s not; this is about your party, this is about your country, this is about a direction, and really, this moment is for history; it’s nothing to do with me or my career or my future or past or present; this is a moment where the country and the party have to decide what kind of country and what kind of party do we want to be. That’s why I said that the mirror image is so interesting, that Mr Barrow’s words are actually being put back on the party that he was such an instrumental part in, and the party is now being asked to reflect on its purpose, on its place, and what it will do now and what it will do in the future. Because the question that has to be at the forefront of people’s minds is that you have two elected officers, most senior elected officers of a party, that have been put there by the membership, and given the constitution and the rules and natural justice and all things, those officers and those persons should have to be removed by the people who put them there, and no small group of persons from X and Y calling meetings randomly; that is not how democracy works, that’s not how things function. People left their houses; they voted for the officers of that party to do the job that they’re supposed to do, and that’s the process that should have been allowed to follow and to play out. So it just comes back down to those same persons, as I said, they decide, it is about them, and it is about what they want for their country, and you know, it’s not about me, this is not a historical point about one year without Steve Blackett, this is a historical point about Barbados and the Democratic Labour Party, and when we look back on today, maybe 20, 30 years from now, depending on the decisions that are taken, we will recognise that this is a breaking or making point in some ways, not in some ways, in many ways, for the kind of politics that we will pursue, and whether we’re going to pursue a politics of hope, opportunities, and a politics of democracy and transparency, or are we going to pursue a politics that doesn’t speak to any of those things.
[Barbados TODAY]
It’s early days yet, but have you had a chance to have a conversation with yourself about your next steps? What are you going to do now?
[Dr Ronnie Yearwood]
The thing about it is, I am a man of faith, and it’s not even about conversations with myself; it’s about people around me; it’s about my family, my loved ones, it’s about my friends and what they think is best also for me and my space, and, you know, what do you, and then having a discussion with them about where do I want to contribute and how I want to contribute.
So that is where we’ll be going; I’m not going to second-guess them and myself, you know, it’s about living your life really, and as I have said, anybody who knows me would know, you know, in some ways the most tumultuous moments I am probably at my calmest and at my most lucid, and that’s clear, and you just have to live your life and live your life and get on and do the things that you know are right, you know, people always talk about, you know, you have to do this and you have to cut here and cut there, and I always tell people by the time you cut here and cut there, you’ve been to this person and you’ve been that way, then you go left and you go right, you know, what is left of you? What is left of your principles?
What is left of the man that my mother raised to do what is right? And sometimes doing what is right is not easy because, you know, people tell you, if you shut your mouth and don’t worry about it, in ten years, 15 years, you could be here and there. I’m like, No, no, no, no, that cannot be the way to do it. If I’m talking about new politics, I have to live it. It will come with its consequences. And as a leader, and as a father, husband, friend, and son, and all the other things, the roles that I play, I have to accept and put my trust in things that I cannot see. And at the end of the day, you know, it comes down to persons deciding among and within themselves as well, you know, what is happening in the Democratic-Labour Party? This is the fundamental question: What is happening in the Democratic-Labour Party right now? Is that good behaviour? Is it right? What has happened? And if they conclude that it is not right, well, then they would know what they are required to do to help to make it right as party members, card-carrying members of the party, and as members of the country. But also, I think from all the things that I’ve done to people over the last couple of years in my role, I think they want a new politics.
They want a new Barbados. They want a new kind of behaviour and culture in politics. And that’s what I’ve always advocated for, and that’s what I will always stand for, you know.
I always just tell people—it’s a little saying—Beware the foxes that eat the vine. You know, it’s always; you make little things here, little things there, and before you know it, you know, you eat the vine, and there’s nothing left but a sense of hollowness. And I don’t; I never want to become that kind of leader or that kind of person.
You have to have principles, you just have to stand by them, you know, and the right things will happen in the end. It seems tough now, but, you know, you always get through on the other side. There’s always a coming out on the other side.
[Barbados TODAY]
There has been talk that if this situation with the Democratic Labour Party does not work out, you could consider the possibility of forming a new entity or reviving an old one. Has that even crossed your mind?
[Dr Ronnie Yearwood]
No, no, no. Because, I think, at the end of the day, the Democratic Labour Party is a collection of Barbadians, and I remember, I’ve said this, and I’ve said this so many times in the last couple of years, that if the party cannot change itself and cannot make good of purpose and its principles, then how do we make good of the purpose and the principles of the country? Because the party literally is simply an apparatus that will map onto the country as a government; so whatever is going on in the party, whatever types of culture and behaviour that you have there, that culture and behaviour only spins into practise and behaviour as government. So, we have to make right the institutions around us that govern us, because at the end of the day, those institutions are simply the people. The DLP is a collection of Barbadians. Yes, it’s the brick and the mortar at George Street, yes.
But it’s really, at its core, the people that make up the party and then the culture of those people, and then the politics that is being practised, and whether we want to practice a politics, a new politics, that speaks to, as I said before, an opportunity and a way to allow young Barbadians to be able to live out their dreams and to live out the best of themselves in Barbados. And essentially, I think that is what the party has to come to. That is what the politics of this country have to come to. It cannot be a politics about self. It cannot be a politics of me, as grand and maybe high-level as that sounds. But that is what it has to be, because that’s the only way that we’re going to get the best of people, and that’s the only way we’re going to get a country that really can function and provide a space for our children to grow up in—a space that is happy, a space that is safe, a space that then allows them to get good jobs, sustainable jobs, and then to live well in a way that perhaps our parents have lived their lives out and lived well.
[Barbados TODAY]
With everything that has been going on—the back-and-forth within the party,—how are you and your family coping? What sort of impact has this had on you and your loved ones?
[Dr Ronnie Yearwood]
I am really glad that you asked that question. I don’t know if you are going to publish this, but I’m glad that you asked that question …People forget that you still have roles to fulfill, that you’re still a husband, you’re still a father, you still have to drop off the kids at the nursery, you still have to cook dinner, you have to do laundry, pay bills, shop for school clothes that I was doing this week, all the things that you have to do while still doing all this other stuff. And that really, as leader of the party, you’ve had a day job. Because really, [being] president of the DLP is a position, a labour of love, and a voluntary position; nobody’s paid for it. I am doing well. Yeah, I’m actually doing well. It’s a lot of pressure, I think, and sometimes my concern is not necessarily even about me.
My concern is more about my family and my friends, who I think feel the pain. They feel what is going on. I’m often more concerned about them than myself.
I try to ensure that they’re okay and that everybody around me is handling and doing okay, because they are often seriously concerned about whether I am okay, but really, to me, I am more concerned sometimes about whether they’re okay. My phone has been blowing up all morning. And it’s interesting; a lot of the phone blowing up is not the DLP that comes up, but it’s more about, Are you good?
And that really tells me that a community that’s around me cares, and that is why sometimes I keep doing this because I know I have people who love me, and they care enough about me as a person. Firstly, that’s their first concern, and then the conversation is like, okay, let’s talk DLP and politics, but let’s start with, how are you?
And I would say I am good. I am well, and I am taking care of my family and the people around me because that is also part of the job I have to do as much. I have to take care of party, country, community, and all the things that come with that. I also have to manage my house and make sure my house is in order because you can’t purport to go out there trying to fix other things and fix somebody else’s house when yours is falling apart. It always is about family first. The family has to be at the top, and your friends have to be at the top of your priorities, and I would never want to become… you know there is the Bajan joke about the carpenter whose house is always the worst, because he is so busy, and sometimes he is doing everybody else’s house. He neglects his own, which in turn affects his ability to fix everybody else’s house. I don’t want to become that person.
So really, a lot of my focus is making sure the people around me are good, because when they are good, then they can hold me up. My tribe, so to speak, can hold me up, so that I can then hold up others.
Sometimes people see you as the front, but they don’t realise how many other people are holding you up. And that’s why I began by thanking them, because they’re holding me up, so I can go forward then to do other things for other people, and other communities that my tribe may never meet or see. And it’s very important for them because their view is to make sure that Ron is good so that he can function and do the things that he needs to do.
[Barbados TODAY]
What message do you have for members of the party, Barbadians here at home and in the diaspora, those who might not support the party, and your family?
[Dr Ronnie Yearwood]
I think most of all, it is for them to recognise that this is their party, this is their country, and they have to make that stand, that decision, for what is right. And for the type of politics that they want to see practised and the type of democracy that they want to see built. Because at the end of the day, they have to ask themselves, How are the officers that they voted for, that they put there? How has it come to this? And is this the right thing? And they will know the answer. Instinctively, we know when something is right, and we know when something is wrong.
And then they will be able to know what they have to do from there. So I would always say, don’t lose hope. I never practise a politics of despair.
Anybody who knows me well enough will always know that I am an eternal optimist. Hope springs eternal. You have to, sometimes in the darkest moments, when everything seems lost, everything seems like it’s topsy-turvy and it’s coming to an end. There’s always that little ray of light. And that is what you have to hold on to. That things will get better.
Because they have to. But they will not get better by themselves. They get better by people joining, putting their hands up, making a stand, and advocating and fighting for what they believe are the right and good things.
And we’ve all been raised well enough that we know what are the right and the good things.
