Anguilla has elected its first female Premier, Cora Richardson-Hodge, following a decisive victory by the Anguilla United Front (AUF) in the general elections held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Richardson-Hodge’s AUF secured eight of the eleven contested seats in the Anguilla House of Assembly, unseating the incumbent Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) led by outgoing Premier Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster. With a clear majority, the AUF is set to form the new government in the British Overseas Territory.
The newly elected AUF members include party leader Cora Richardson-Hodge, Jose Vanterpool, Jeison Byran, Shellya Rogers, Kyle Hodge, Cordell Richardson, Cardigan Connor, and Evans McNiel. The opposition will be comprised of Webster, former tourism minister Haydn Hughes, and parliamentary secretary Merrick Richardson.
The elections took place within Anguilla’s electoral system, where eleven of the thirteen seats in the House of Assembly are decided by public vote. The remaining two seats are reserved for ex-officio members. The territory, which has 12,432 registered voters from a population of approximately 15,900, saw a robust electoral turnout.
Key issues that shaped the campaign included economic concerns, particularly debates over the controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), management of Anguilla’s highly lucrative ‘.ai’ domain name, tourism, cost of living, and rising concerns about crime. One contentious topic that emerged early in the campaign was a proposal to remove the voting rights of diaspora Anguillians. However, following significant public backlash, the idea was abandoned, preserving the longstanding electoral system.
Richardson-Hodge will be officially sworn in as Premier on Thursday. Her victory also marks a significant milestone for gender representation in Anguilla, with the territory now having both a female Premier and a British-appointed female Governor, Julia Crouch.
The AUF’s triumph signals a shift in leadership and policy direction for Anguilla, with many now looking to Richardson-Hodge and her government to address pressing economic and social concerns in the coming years.
(Discover Monsterrat)
