“You asked me to serve and here I am”.
And with these words, Mara Thompson, the Democratic Labour Party candidate in the upcoming St John by-election addressed the people of that constituency in her first political speech at Gall Hill last night.
It was the launch of the DLP campaign in that parish which was represented by her late husband and former Prime Minister David Thompson, who died on October 23, 2010.
It was around 10:35 p.m. that Mara, dressed in party colours, moved through the mammoth crowd to the tune of the Sister Sledge song “We Are Family” before mounting the stage to join other DLP members. Her daughters Misha, Oya and Osa, as well as her mother, also joined her on stage.
“I am ready to be of service to you the wonderful people of St John,” she said to loud cheers and applause from the crowd.
Mara said the “family affair” with St John had been existence for a very long time. She said when the party lost the General Election and when her late husband had given up the leadership of the party in 2002, it was to the people of St John that they had turned.
She thanked the people of St John for the love they have shown to her family throughout the years, particularly at the time of her husband’s death.
“I have now stepped forward to resume the programme started by my late husband,” she said, promising that the projects started will be completed, and those promised will be delivered
“I Mara Thompson give you that assurance,” she pledged.
“St John will have no softer or less demanding a voice than it has had for the last 24 years,” she said, noting that as a woman and a mother, her lobby for the St John polyclinic will be unrelenting.
“I will be your new driver, and you will remain the navigators,” she said, addressing the constituents of that parish.
Mara said that while campaigning, she would not be slugging away at anyone’s image, nor reputation and had no interest in people’s personal lives.
“I won’t be distracted by the rumblings of the other side,” she said.
