Five in the running for St Philip North

Five candidates for St Philip North were nominated today at Hilda Skeene Primary in Ruby, St Philip.

They were, in order of appearance, Dr Sonia Browne, who is aiming to retain her seat on the Barbados Labour Party ticket; Reverend Nigel Newton representing for the newly formed Alliance Party for Progress; independent candidate Wayne Beckles; Democratic Labour Party representative Michael Lashley and independent candidate Omar Smith.

Browne, who first contested the seat in 2018, arrived at 10:30 a.m. She told the media she had a bigger support team and was confident the seat would be hers again.

Newton came around 11:15 a.m. and his focus would be on addressing unemployment among young people with special attention to the development of youngsters on “the block”.

Beckles, a carpenter by profession, said his campaign was based on forming meaningful relationships with people and showing that he genuinely cared for those in his community. He arrived at 11: 45 a.m.

Lashley had a crowd of supporters who cheered for him as he walked through the school gates after 1:30 p.m.

He said he was back to give proper representation as many constituents complained about not knowing their parliamentary representative and were unsure about what was done to enhance the lives of those in the area.

Smith, who arrived around 2:10 p.m., said he was determined to help shape St Philip North into a self-sustaining constituency.

He said he was about helping people empower themselves and putting structures in place to make the constituency independent by setting up industries operated by and for residents of St Philip North. (SB)