KINGSTOWN, ST. Vincent, CMC—The main opposition party, the New Democratic Party (NDP), has completed its selection of candidates for the next general election, widely expected within the next year, ahead of the February 2026 constitutional deadline.
The last NDP candidate to be selected is Phillip Jackson, who will contest the Marriaqua constituency as the NDP seeks to end the Unity Labour Party (ULP) reign headed by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who has been in office since 2001.
NDP leader, Dr. Godwin Friday
“I feel very honored. I’m also very elated and happy about the choice the people of Marriaqua made, and I’m dedicated to ensuring that I fulfill their wishes in bringing home the seat of Marriaqua for the NDP,” Jackson said.
His candidacy must be ratified by the NDP’s central executive committee and the party’s leader, Godwin Friday, in January.
Jackson, a public servant, is the government’s science and technology coordinator and is expected to face off with ST. Clair Prince, the Minister of Health, Wellness, and the Environment, bids for a third consecutive term as MP for Marriaqua.
Following his victory as the party’s candidate, Friday said he was the “very happy president of the New Democratic Party.”
He said the candidate selection was building to the big contest – the general elections.
“We have now selected 15 candidates. We have in each constituency, and of course, we go through the ratification process sometime in January.
“But we have a challenge ahead of us. That is to win the next election. We know that we can win it, and we have been putting the pieces in place all the time to get that done,” Friday said, adding, “We are setting the groundwork here now to go forward in the New Year in a full campaign to change the government so we could change St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the better.”
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