. . . (P)ersons who were older than him and who were in an organisation longer than him and seeing him develop by God’s will, rather than become . . . emulators of him became secret and villainous contrivers, figuring that he was trying to move much too quickly.” – Minister of Trade?Senator Haynesley?Benn in a tribute to late Prime Minister
David Thompson, who was also president of the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP), in the Senate, Wednesday,?November 10.
WHEN?BOTH?HOUSES? OF?PARLIAMENT met last week to pay tribute to the late Prime Minister David Thompson it offered all?Barbadians an opportunity, on reflection, to reach for the full measure of the man.
Not just Thompson, the family man, the friend, the lawyer; rather, they would have been thinking of Thompson, the politician.
After all, it was in the House of Assembly that the St John MP had fought most of his political battles. And for some who had the good fortune to observe him, it seemed as if he had been doing it forever, having been in the politicial arena from such a young age.
It was clear to most of us that he was a young politician from the old school with several years experience.
He would have been tutored by the stalwarts of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), including the likes of Errol Barrow, Cameron Tudor and Maurice King.
Surprisingly, he did not appear fussy about outlining a philosophy for the party. Perhaps like Barrow, it was “not easy to reduce this to the written word.”
The notion of old school politics is captured in the mission of becoming the man of the people; this may be a natural pursuit for some who are familiarly called “grass-root” politicians or it may require some making over of the others.
There are obvious prices which have to be paid to become the man of the people.
It demands a sacrifice of family time; it commands a sense of kingship, and it requires a network of helpers.
The individual literally becomes an institution, with various arms responsible for the many facets that are required to mould the consummate politician.
Major influence
It is a work of art.
One of Thompson’s major influences, and from whom he inherited the “safe” seat of St John, was the quintessential man of the people.
Barrow started as a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), but soon found his political views were clashing with those in the leadership of that party.
His ultimate departure has been interpreted by some of the historians in ways ranging from the concerns of his impact on the labour movement to the struggles with the most entrenched forms of white class power and racial privilege in Barbados at the time.
Barrow’s sense of kingship was not only derived from his plantation-owning, black middle class family, but his unique training in law and economics that helped immensely in the creation of the new State and the outlining of a new economy.
It was an enviable intellectual armoury to take into the political arena, following on his life experiences in Britain at a time when the post-Second World War society and economy were being fashioned worldwide.
Devoid of any such experience, Thompson’s sense of kingship was built more from the parochial space, after very early exposure to the political arena and having defined himself as a result.
It was impossible to stop the DLP from believing that he had an entitlement, and so, his institutional personality was fully formed.
Entitlement
This sense of entitlement had to be earned, and it was earned at the expense of sacrificing time which he otherwise would have devoted to his family. As he stepped out on his political journey, he benefited from this exposure as his legal practice received impetus from his associations with the same Barrow and, in later times, his affiliation with the CLICO group of companies.
He simply benefited from his own enterprise and adventure, for which he cannot be faulted.
It is impossible to travel such a path without being accompanied by well-wishers and helpers who in turn offer kindness, but in a real political world, bring their self-interests along with them.
Perhaps, the perfect example of this was the recent reaction of former politicial adviser Hartley Henry when he said that “the kingmaker dies with the king”.
His idol
These are immortal words that express the nature of politics from a man who represents the politics of nature.
Indeed, Henry did not see himself as a helper. He was working for a man three years his senior who became his idol and mentor when he was 13 years old. It would, however, take 32 for the friendship to peak “on the evening of January 15, 2008 when David John Howard Thompson was declared the sixth Prime Minister of Barbados.”
This is indicative of the nature of the political journey to which I referred earlier.
This recognition by Henry confirms that this young man Thompson was from the old school.
To have so impressed a young mind when he himself was only 16 is testimony to the view that politicians are cultivated at an early age.
It also suggests that political advisors are a special breed.
Still, one perforce must ask: Where was the kingmaker when Thompson lost so badly in the 1999 general election?
To proclaim himself as the kingmaker, when there was clear evidence in the CADRES mid-term poll of 2005 that the Barbados Labour Party was on the ropes, is indicative of a man who truly overstates his importance.
After the defeat in 1999, Thompson admitted that he was at his lowest ebb.
Many would recall that he subsequently resigned as president of the DLP and as political leader. If there were more than two MPs to choose from in the House, Thompson might well have resigned from the post of Leader of the Opposition as well.
This young politician in an old cast did not have an easy journey on his road to becoming the Prime Minister of Barbados.
And for anyone to turn up months before his victory in 2008 and label himself the kingmaker is to disrespect the old adage that “the toughest steel goes through the hottest fire”.
Thompson certainly did go through the hottest fire, but it did not happen overnight; it took years not months.
• Albert Brandford is an independent, freelance political correspondent.
