Last Updated on December 17, 2025 6:46 pm by Editor
Today is the first day of the 60th year of Barbados’ independence. In human terms, Barbados as a nation has come of age. But have we the people and our democratic system matured? What are the prospects for meaningful change going forward?
If we were to do a State of the Nation Assessment, there is no doubt that economic stagnation, freedom of speech, corruption and erosion of law and order would feature strongly as issues begging for resolution.
However, since our system of governance virtually administers all these to some extent, our focus in this editorial is on the upcoming general election and the prospects for real change in our political directorate with special reference to the plethora of new parties on the rise.
Looking Back
The BLP swept the polls 30-0 on two separate occasions: 2018 and the snap (“covid 19”) election of 2022. No sensible Barbadian who truly understands what democracy is about should want to see a repeat of that outcome in 2026/2027.
Since 2018 there have been two major defections from the BLP. Mr. Joesph Atherley “crossed the floor” in 2018 and last year (2024) Mr. Ralph Thorne defected and subsequently joined the Democratic Labour Party as political leader.
Several of our Caribbean neighbours have already held their elections: Trinidad, Jamaica, St. Vincent. That in St. Lucia occurs today as we write. As yet, the bell has not tolled for the expected general election in Barbados. The fat lady is still singing and some are calling for an encore.
New Parties
Several new parties have announced their intention to contest the election whenever it is called. So, on this first day of December, it is beginning to look at lot like Christmas as the parties display their basic visual branding.
The latest party to declare interest in the election is the FOD (Friends of Democracy). As far as we can tell, several of its members are “escapees” from the purge of the DLP occasioned by the controversial embrace of Ralph Thorne as its political leader.
While some Barbadians are sceptical of the ability of any so-called “third party” to upset the status quo (meaning the musical chairs played by the two so-called established parties), other Barbadians are welcoming the formation of new parties. Why?
Because Barbadians want change.
Those who want to subvert and short-circuit the political change process slowly sweeping over the Caribbean are telling us that we are in for another 30-love from the BLP. However, it is relatively easy to figure out which House of Soothsayers such psychics represent.
“Third” parties should not let such brain washing attempts discourage them. Neither should they let the superficial political analysis of the likes of Peter Wickham dissuade them.
The fact of the matter is that there is need for change in our polity as much as in our economy. And thankfully, one can still detect a welcoming mental space in the minds of the electorate for a serious third party.
The idea that third parties are not worthy of a vote because they lack experience is slowly evaporating. Such a notion is no longer holding much water because Barbadians have “surfaced” and are aware of the game of water polo being played by the Big-2.
In any event, years of experience doing the same thing and getting the same results now registers as madness on the mental radars of an increasing number of the public.
That having been said, new parties definitely need to do more to convince the electorate to give them more than a passing glance. Failure to do so will consign them to the also-ran parade. Here is one suggestion that should be taken seriously and acted on urgently.
Philosophical Positioning
Visual branding is important but it is only a small fraction of the bigger issue of brand identity. New parties need to go beyond visual branding to develop a clear, strong and unique position in the political marketplace.
That is strategic marketing 101. It is about focus. Analysts are suggesting that that was the approach taken Dr. Gordon Friday in St. Vincent. Dr. Gordon Friday successfully defeated Dr. Ralph Gonsalves who was Prime Minister for 24 four years.
Positioning means telling the electorate clearly what the party stands for and how that differs from what others represent. In other words, a new party, like a new product, needs to stake out a philosophical position that differentiates it from all other parties.
A serious political party must have a philosophy which meets three criteria:
- It must be one that members and supporters can understand, relate to and refer to as the basis of their support.
- It must be a philosophy against which the party can check itself when the inevitable forces of strategic drift and environmental challenges occur.
- Ultimately, it must be a philosophy that drives what it is prepared to do or not do when it becomes the government of the country. Therefore, not only has it got to be a part of the launch of the party but that philosophy must be a part of the party’s ongoing communications campaign.
A philosophical position is more than a mission statement. It is NOT a list of values, important as those are. So, telling the public: “we believe in integrity, fairness and justice” or any such concoction is not a strategic philosophical statement of the kind envisaged here.
Philosophical positioning is a CSR (Critical Strategic Response) because time and time again, Barbadians have expressed the view that they see no difference between the two established parties. That is why they meme them as BDLP.
They are not talking about the party’s approach to job creation or how much they expect the party raise old age pension. Those are important. But what those Barbadians are really talking about, without using the term, is the party’s philosophical positioning because that will give them a clue as to whether they can trust the party’s representatives if elected.
After the experience with “Mia Cares” trust in parties and political leaders in Barbados is at an all-time low!
Contrary to what some may think, philosophical positioning is practiced effectively by political parties in developed countries. In some cases, the entire political party is branded largely on a single philosophical issue.
For example, the Green Party of Germany (also known as Alliance 90/The Greens) positioned itself on environmental issues, social justice, and sustainability.
PVV, the far-right party of the Netherlands led by Geert Wilders, positioned itself on the immigration issue and won a surprise victory at the polls in November 2023.
Critical Philosophical Issues
There is a wide array of issues or questions on which new Barbadian and Caribbean political parties can position themselves. For example, what is the party’s stance on globalism and wokeness? Where does it stand on freedom of speech? What is its concept of independence: does it mean more or less dependence on government? What about foreign debt and foreign ownership of local assets? What is the party’s moral and ethical base? And most important, what place does the country’s Judeo-Christian foundation have in its philosophy?
Naturally, philosophical positioning will only work if the position taken represents a genuine and strategic alignment with the wishes of the electorate.
As in all strategic marketing, the “customer is king”. But a party cannot be successful at being everything to everybody. That is not how democracy works.
So rather than letting the issue of crime – important as that is – and the current political gossip dominate their conversation, new political parties need to step above that noise and creatively define what they are and what is strategically important to the country going forward, taking cognizance of the views of the public.
So far, none of the new parties has stated a philosophical position (that we can discern) that meets the stipulated criteria. But doing so is a requirement if the party is going to be successful in capturing the mental space currently available for a serious newcomer and making history by breaking the hold of the Big-2 on Barbadian politics.
Contrary to popular perception, a new party need not score an outright win in this benighted first-past-the-post electoral system to which we still cling. Winning three to six seats will be enough to begin the shake-up of the order of things!
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