# Labour Party Landslide (1997)

URL: https://allhistories.com/saint-lucia/timeline/1997-labour-party-landslide
Location: Castries, Saint Lucia
Themes: main-event

The United Workers Party (UWP) had governed Saint Lucia almost without interruption since 1964, apart from the troubled Labour interlude of 1979–82. In 1996 Sir John Compton retired as prime minister and handed over to Vaughan Lewis, a former director-general of the OECS, while the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) chose the economist and former education minister Kenny Anthony as its leader in place of Julian Hunte. At the general election of 23 May 1997 the SLP campaigned on unemployment, the crisis in the banana industry and claims of government mismanagement. It won 16 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly, leaving the UWP with a single seat, the heaviest defeat any party had suffered since independence. Anthony, aged 45, was sworn in as prime minister the following day and formed a cabinet dominated by younger professionals. The landslide opened an era of Labour government that lasted until 2006. Anthony's administration pursued diversification away from bananas into tourism and services, reform of public finances and a review of the constitution, while confronting the loss of preferential access to the European banana market. The result also marked a generational change in Saint Lucian politics, as the founders of the independence era gave way to a new leadership. At this point in the timeline (23 May 1997), the Queen of Saint Lucia was Elizabeth II (22 February 1979 – 8 September 2022); the Governor-General of Saint Lucia was Sir George Mallet (1 June 1996 – 31 August 1997). Government: the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia was Vaughan Lewis (2 April 1996 – 24 May 1997).

## Why it matters
The 1997 landslide ended three decades of UWP dominance and brought Kenny Anthony to power for the first of his two premierships.

Ruler at the Time: [Elizabeth II (1979–2022)](https://allhistories.com/saint-lucia/rulers/elizabeth-ii-1979)

Governor-General of Saint Lucia: Sir George Mallet
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia: Vaughan Lewis (United Workers Party (UWP))

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 1997 Saint Lucian general election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Saint_Lucian_general_election)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Saint Lucia](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Saint+Lucia)
- [Caribbean Elections](https://www.caribbeanelections.com/)
- [Wikipedia — Tourism, Cricket and The Modern State (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucia)