Mara: It was stressful, strenuous

The former Member of Parliament (MP) for St John Mara Thompson is confident she made the right decision to step down from electoral politics.

She spoke about the decision on Friday night after a meeting at the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) constituency office in Carters, Gall Hill. There she said her final goodbyes to party members and those who made up the constituency council.

In a brief interview after the proceedings, she said while she enjoyed representing the people of St John as one of the few female MPs in Barbados, as a mother, she felt relieved.

“I am so filled with relief that I am not sure if I have mixed feelings of such,” she said.

“I am sure I made the right decision and I am happy to go and take care of Mara now.”

Thompson, who was elected in 2011 after the death of her husband former Prime Minister and MP for St John David Thompson, in 2010, said public life was a bit more than she could chew.

“Yes I found it was stressful and strenuous. I felt that I wasn’t paying sufficient attention to what’s happening at home and how the girls were doing. I still have a 16-year-old.

“One of my daughters said to me when I first started out that I have taken on all the hats that David wore and as I thought about it leading up to my coming out, it was true. I pretty much took on everything he did, constituency and all, but David had a wife, a cooperative, supportive wife and I don’t have what he did.”

When asked what was the straw that broke that camel’s back for her, she said it was too personal and could not comment.

Accomplishments

However, as it relates to her achievements, she said she was pleased with what she did, pointing to her success in completing the David Thompson Health And Social Services Complex at Glebe Land, opening a new post office in Four Roads and fixing roads in Haynesville and other areas.

Thompson added that she thought people in that constituency were annoyed with her for her decision to back down but to her surprise they were not.

“They seemed thankful and grateful to me for running . . . . It was a phenomenal experience and I learnt a lot despite it was taxing.”

The candidate for the parish in the upcoming General Election is George Pilgrim, the general secretary of the DLP and three-time defeated St Thomas candidate. (SB)