KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves led his ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) to a comfortable fifth consecutive victory in  general elections here last Thursday.

Preliminary figures released by the Electoral Office showed that the ULP won nine of the 15 seats in the Parliament, an increase of three seats on the previous one-seat majority in the last two general elections. It is the first time that a political party has won five consecutive general elections here.

Gonsalves, 74, easily won his North Central Windward seat he has been representing since 2001, brushing aside the two other candidates – Chieftain Neptune of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and Kadmiel McFee of the CVG Green Party.

NDP leader Dr. Godwin Friday, 61, who led the party into a general election for the first time, easily retained the Northern Grenadines seat he has represented in Parliament since 2001. He polled 2 123 votes against 458 for the ULP’s Carlos Williams.

The NDP won the two seats on the sister isles of the Grenadines.

  St Vincent