When the leadership of the St Peter branch of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) met last evening with some of the party’s senior officials, it turned out to be a reaffirmation of their confidence in two people.
A number of branch officials gave their full support to Mia Mottley as the party’s chairman and political leader, and to Colin Jordan as the man who should carry the mantle for the party in the constituency.
But a number of speakers also acknowledged that the surprise resignation of former Prime Minister Owen Arthur from the party had left them “hurting”.
It was Arthur’s decision to quit and sit as an Independent in the House of Assembly that forced the meeting, which would have been held earlier but was put back until yesterday because of the recently concluded Crop Over activities.
The meeting, held at Alexandra School in Speightstown, started just after 6 p.m. and was closed to the media, but from a vantage point much of what was being said could be overheard. Apart from Mottley, who had arrived about 20 minutes before the start, other senior party officials in attendance included general secretary Senator Dr Jerome Walcott, St Thomas MP Cynthia Forde and executive assistant to the Opposition Leader Pat Parris.
Jordan and Peter Phillips, who unsuccessfully contested the St Lucy constituency in the last general election, made their way into the hall together after Mottley, but before Walcott.
