Following the battering received at the 2022 general elections, Barbados’ main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has elected Dr Ronnie Yearwood, a lecturer in law at the University of the West Indies (UWI), as its new president.

Yearwood replaces Verla De Peiza, under whose leadership the DLP was defeated 30 seats to none by the Prime Minister Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) on January 19.

Yearwood was announced the winner of the party’s presidential election on Sunday night, defeating Dr David Estwick, a former Cabinet minister, by 273 votes to 205.

In his victory speech, Yearwood, who was among the DLP’s losing candidates back in January, called for supporters to “come home”.

“This party calls you to arms, calls you home… . I want you to come home,” the new DLP leader said.

“During the recent general election campaign, I talked about this party as a big tent, I talked about the fact that better days are ahead of us and we can all walk in the sun together and I invite you into this tent.

“I want you to feel part of this family and anyone hearing my voice knows that this is one DLP family and that we are ready and we are preparing ourselves to serve you.”

THE TASK AT HAND

Yearwood will now take on the task of introducing a new set of programmes and policies on which the DLP will attempt to develop its foundation, while also meeting with the public to gauge the needs and wants of the electorate.

Just two days after the embarrassing loss at the polls in January, De Peiza submitted her resignation as party president, paving the way for Sunday’s election of a new leader to chart the way forward.

De Peiza had taken over as president of the DLP in 2018 after a similar 30-0 loss to the BLP, which led to Mottley’s first term as prime minister of Barbados.