General elections were held in Saint Kitts and Nevis on 16 February 2015. The ruling Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, was defeated by Team Unity, an alliance of the Concerned Citizens' Movement, the People's Action Movement, and the People's Labour Party, led by Timothy Harris.

Campaign

Prior to the elections, three opposition parties, the People's Action Movement, the People's Labour Party and the Concerned Citizens' Movement formed the Team Unity alliance.[1] The three parties did not stand against each other, and formed the sole opposition to the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party on Saint Kitts and to the Nevis Reformation Party on Nevis.

Electoral system

Eleven of the fifteen seats in the National Assembly were elected, with three other members appointed by the Governor-General at some point after the elections and one seat held by the Attorney-General.[2] The eleven elected seats were elected in single-member constituencies using plurality voting.[3]

Results

On Saint Kitts, the People's Action Movement won four of the eight seats, whilst the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party lost half their seats. Contesting their first elections, the People's Labour Party won one seat. On Nevis, two seats were won by the Concerned Citizens' Movement and the third by the Nevis Reformation Party.[1]

The outgoing coalition (SKNLP and NRP) secured 50.08% of votes but got only 4 seats due to the single-member plurality electoral system. This was also the first election in the country where the individual party that won the most votes did not win the most seats.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party11,89739.273–3
People's Action Movement8,45227.904+2
Concerned Citizens' Movement3,95113.0420
Nevis Reformation Party3,27610.8110
People's Labour Party2,7238.991New
Appointed members40
Total30,299100.00150
Valid votes30,29999.49
Invalid/blank votes1560.51
Total votes30,455100.00
Registered voters/turnout42,18572.19
Source: SKN Vibes

Elected MPs

MPs Party Constituency
  Ian Liburd People's Action Movement St Christopher #1
  Marcella Liburd Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party St Christopher #2
  Konris Maynard Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party St Christopher #3
  Lindsay Grant People's Action Movement St Christopher #4
  Shawn Richards People's Action Movement St Christopher #5
  Denzil Douglas Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party St Christopher #6
  Timothy Harris People's Labour Party St Christopher #7
  Eugene Hamilton People's Action Movement St Christopher #8
  Mark Brantley Concerned Citizens' Movement Nevis #9
  Vance Amory Concerned Citizens' Movement Nevis #10
  Patrice Nisbett Nevis Reformation Party Nevis #11

References

  1. ^ a b Team Unity wins St Kitts and Nevis 2015 general election Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine Caribbean Elections, 17 February 2015
  2. ^ Team Unity declared official winners of St Kitts Election Archived 2015-02-20 at the Wayback Machine The Daily Observer, 17 February 2015
  3. ^ Electoral system IPU