DEFEATED CANDIDATE Hudson Griffith, of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), respectfully conceded his massive loss to Mara Thompson, and with a brave face declared that he would not be leaving St John.
With his leader Owen Arthur at his right side and his wife Maria at his left, Griffith, the newcomer to the St John constituency said the time frame given for him to canvass was against him.
“I was driving through St John this morning and I realised that there were areas that I did not know and that I had no time to cover. And it pained me. But I thought I gave it my best shot,” he stated, vowing not to give up the fight, though he had heard there were bets on him that he would not return.
“They are certainly going to lose their money,” Griffith said.
He signalled his return by announcing that he would be contesting the next general election.
Arthur was also confident about Griffith’s candidacy in St John, saying that he would now have the time to adquately canvass the constituency.
After congratulating Thompson on her overwhelming victory, Arthur – to loud applause from party supporters at the BLP’s Gall Hill consitueny office – said: “This has been an extraordinary election for us in many respects. We came to this campaign with no illusions. There were matters that we had to contend with that were beyond our control.”
He lamented: “There are some matters that we have foisted upon ourselves that in part explain the nature of this campaign . . . . We were running a campaign against the sentimentality arising form the death of a Prime Minister both in his prime and in his youth, and it was very difficult to break through because of it.”
