2022 Grenadian general election

Snap general elections were held in Grenada on 23 June 2022.^[1] The incumbent Prime Minister Keith Mitchell sought a sixth term.^[2] National Democratic Congress (NDC) made a return to parliament after nine years of absence, defeating the ruling party New National Party (NNP), which led to Dickon Mitchell becoming the new prime minister of Grenada.^[3] This is also the first election since 2008 where the NDC gained seats.

2022 Grenadian general election

← 2018 23 June 2022 (2022-06-23) Next →
All 15 seats in the House of Representatives 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Dickon Mitchell Keith Mitchell Party NDC NNP Last election 40.53%, 0 seats 58.91%, 15 seats Seats won 9 6 Seat change 9 9 Popular vote 31,430 28,959 Percentage 51.84% 47.76% Swing 11.28pp 11.12pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Keith Mitchell NNP Elected Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell NDC

Background

During the previous election held in March 2018, the NNP, led by prime minister Keith Mitchell, was re-elected to a fifth term. Like in the 2013 election, the NNP won all 15 seats in the house of representatives.^[4]

Three months after the 2018 election, NDC leader Nazim Burke resigned, and deputy leader Joseph Andall acted as party leader in the interim.^[5][6] Former education minister Franka Bernardine was elected unopposed at the next party convention in November.^[7] She resigned in November 2020 for health reasons, with deputy leader Adrian Thomas taking charge in the interim period.^[8] The NDC reconvened in October 2021 to elect new party executives; the party chose attorney Dickon Mitchell (no relation) to lead the NDC, with Adrian Thomas as deputy leader.^[9]

Electoral system

The 15 members of the House of Representatives are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.^[10]

Conduct

Prime minister Mitchell advised the governor-general, Dame Cécile La Grenade, to dissolve the house of representatives on 16 May, one year earlier than the full five years term of the outgoing house^[why?]. La Grenade issued a writ for the election the following day. In the short time between the election announcement and the issue of the writ, citizens only had one day to register to vote if they had not done so already. Candidate nominations occurred on 1 June.^[11] Police officers voted on 20 June.^[12]

The Caribbean Community and the Organization of American States sent delegations to observe the election. The prime minister assured that the presence of both observer missions provided "transparency and confidence to the electoral process".^[13]

Candidates

41 candidates were nominated for this election, with five participating parties and one independent candidate. The New National Party (NNP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) nominated candidates for all 15 seats. The Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) nominated 4 candidates, while the Independent Freedom Party (IFP) and the Grenada Renaissance Party (GRP) nominated 3 each.^[14]

Slogans and manifestos

Party		Slogans	Manifesto
	NNP	"Safer Hands!", "Expanding the Empowerment Agenda"	[15]
	NDC	"Transforming Grenada!", "Let's Move Grenada Forward"	[16]
	GULP	"GULP to the Rescue", "Independence. Justice. Development"[17]	[18][19][20][21]
	IFP	"The Eyes Have It"[22]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Democratic Congress	31,430	51.84	9	+9
	New National Party	28,959	47.76	6	–9
	Grenada United Labour Party	64	0.11	0	New
	Independent Freedom Party	60	0.10	0	New
	Grenada Renaissance Party	31	0.05	0	0
	Independents	86	0.14	0	0
Total		60,630	100.00	15	0
Valid votes		60,630	99.49
Invalid/blank votes		311	0.51
Total votes		60,941	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		86,658	70.32
Source: Grenada Elections 2022

By constituency

Constituency	Electorate	Turnout	%	Political party		Candidate	Votes	%
Carriacou and Petite Martinique	5,414	3,780	69.81		National Democratic Congress	Tevin Andrews	1,954	51.69
					New National Party	Kindra Stewart	1,805	47.75
St. Andrew North East	5,362	4,071	75.92		New National Party	Kate Lewis-Peters	2,190	53.79
					National Democratic Congress	Tessa St. Cyr	1,864	45.78
					Independent Freedom Party	Jennel Ramsee	10	0.24
St. Andrew North West	4,798	3,680	76.69		New National Party	Delma Thomas	1,898	51.57
					National Democratic Congress	Gloria Thomas	1,767	48.01
St. Andrew South East	4,868	3,571	73.35		New National Party	Emmalin Pierre	1,893	53.01
					National Democratic Congress	David Andrew	1660	46.48
St. Andrew South West	5,327	3,855	72.36		National Democratic Congress	Lennox Andrews	2,129	55.22
					New National Party	Yoland Bain-Horsford	1,704	44.20
St. David	9,866	7,189	72.86		National Democratic Congress	Dickon Mitchell	4,414	61.39
					New National Party	Oliver Joseph	2,742	38.14
					Independent Freedom Party	Junior Francis	18	0.25
St. George North East	7,727	5,390	69.75		National Democratic Congress	Ron Redhead	3,220	59.74
					New National Party	Nimrod Ollivierre	2,133	39.57
					Grenada Renaissance Party	Martin Edwards	15	0.27
St. George North West	4,534	2,995	66.05		New National Party	Keith Mitchell	2,211	73.82
					National Democratic Congress	Jonathan LaCrette	773	25.80
St. George South	10,903	7,019	64.37		National Democratic Congress	Andy Williams	4,029	57.40
					New National Party	Sebastian Cox	2,961	42.18
					Grenada Renaissance Party	Mendell Samuel	12	0.17
St. George South East	5,413	3,800	70.20		National Democratic Congress	Alfred Telesford	2,122	55.84
					New National Party	Gregory Bowen	1,634	43.0
					Independent Freedom Party	Bassanio Nicholas	32	0.84
					Grenada Renaissance Party	Dennyka Checkley	4	0.10
St. John	6,392	4,464	69.83		National Democratic Congress	Kerryne James	2,216	49.64
					New National Party	Martin DaBreo	2,209	49.48
					Grenada United Labour Party	Geoffrey Preudhomme	19	0.42
St. Mark	3,690	2,498	67.69		New National Party	Clarice Modeste-Curwen	1,470	58.84
					National Democratic Congress	Quinc Britton	995	39.83
					Grenada United Labour Party	David Francis	18	0.72
St. Patrick East	3,914	2,791	71.30		National Democratic Congress	Dennis Matthew-Cornwall	1,443	51.70
					New National Party	Pamela Moses	1,322	47.36
					Grenada United Labour Party	Nigel John	18	0.64
St. Patrick West	4,668	3,288	70.43		National Democratic Congress	Joseph Andall	1,726	52.49
					New National Party	Victor Philip	1,458	44.34
					Independent	Winston Frederick	86	2.61
					Grenada United Labour Party	Augustine David	9	0.27
Town of St. George	3,781	2,462	65.11		New National Party	Peter David	1,329	53.98
					National Democratic Congress	Claudette Joseph	1,118	45.41
Source: Grenada Elections 2022

Aftermath

Outgoing prime minister Keith Mitchell called Dickon Mitchell to congratulate him on his electoral triumph. At the same time, he urged the incoming prime minister to consider preserving programs implemented by the NNP government, which he said delivered a significant benefit to ordinary Grenadians. Keith Mitchell, who became opposition leader, vowed to provide the new government with a productive opposition and insisted it would be "nothing personal".^[23] Dickon Mitchell was sworn in as prime minister on 24 June 2022.^[24]

Mitchell was congratulated by foreign leaders, including Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel^[25] and the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves.^[24]

References

1. "Prime Minister Mitchell announces June 23 election date for Grenada". Barbados Today. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
2. "PM hints at major announcement as Grenada prepares for early election | Loop Caribbean News". Loop News. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
3. "Live blog: Grenada votes election 2022 | Loop Caribbean News". Loop News. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
4. "Grenada General Election Results - 13 March 2018". Caribbean Elections. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
5. Greaves, Natalie (5 July 2018). "Grenada opposition leader Nazim Burke resigns". Caribbean National Weekly. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
6. "Joseph Andall Becomes NDC Interim Leader An Nazim Burke Resigns". Wee FM Radio. St. George's. 2 July 2018. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
7. "Franka Alexis-Bernardine takes charge of NDC". The New Today. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
8. "NDC loses its leader". Grenadian Voice. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
9. "National Democratic Congress Signals a Fresh Start with Newly Elected Executive Body". ndcgrenada.org. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
10. Electoral system IPU
11. "UPDATE: Election bell rung, PM Mitchell going after historic 6th term". Loop. 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
12. "Police officers vote in Grenada general election". Caribbean National Weekly. 20 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
13. "Grenada: International observers will be present for general election". Loop. 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
14. "Nomination Day Report". www.nowgrenada.com. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
15. "New National Party Manifesto- 100 Million For 100 Thousand, Practical Policies For All". New National Party. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via Issuu.
16. "2022 NDC Manifesto". National Democratic Congress of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via Issuu.
17. "#GULP Song & Anthem". Grenada United Labour Party. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via Facebook.
18. "GULP POLITICAL LEADER POLICY SPEECH SERIES 1". Grenada United Labour Party. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via YouTube.
19. "GULP POLITICAL LEADER POLICY SPEECH SERIES 2". Grenada United Labour Party. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via YouTube.
20. "GULP POLITICAL LEADER POLICY SPEECH SERIES 3". Grenada United Labour Party. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via YouTube.
21. "GULP POLITICAL LEADER POLICY SPEECH SERIES 4". Grenada United Labour Party. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022 – via YouTube.
22. "IFP IS READY". Grenada Broadcasting Network. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
23. "Grenada: Former PM Dr Keith Mitchell congratulates Dickon Mitchell". Loop. 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
24. Lee Yan LaSur (24 June 2022). "PM Gonsalves congratulates Dickon Mitchell on Election Victory". St. Vincent Times. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
25. "Presidente de Cuba felicita a nuevo Primer Ministro de Granada". Prensa Latina (in Spanish). Havana. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.