ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (January 6, 2023)—“Women of Labour ” was the main rallying cry when the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) held a public meeting on Knuckle Block in Gray’s Farm Thursday night. The meeting displayed the female candidates on the party’s slate and other high profile and up-and-coming women. That said, however, the woman of the hour was Gail Christian, the ABLP’s candidate in the St. John’s Rural West constituency.
Christian, who is making her third bid for elected office, is in the running with the United Progressive Party’s Richard Lewis, for whom this is a second attempt; independent candidate Anderson Carty; and Stephen Richardson, an eleventh-hour stand-in for the Democratic National Alliance after Malaka Parker resigned from the DNA.
There were robust endorsements of Christian from, amongst others, ABLP General Secretary Mary-Claire Hurst, President of the Senate Alincia Williams-Grant, Members of Parliament Samantha Marshall the incumbent in St. Mary’s South, Maria Browne, the St John’s Rural East incumbent, and two constituents.
Hurst recalled seeing a teenage Christian “many moons ago,” on a platform at a youth conference and declaring that she was going to go places. “The way she presented, everyone had to stop and listen and pay attention,” Hurst said, adding, “She is going places, because she is going to create history as the first female to represent Rural West.”
The night opened with Tanisha Sebastian—a homegrown resident of Rural West whom many may remember for surviving, along with her daughter, a fiery car crash in Florida in August 2021 that claimed the life of the driver—saying Christian is the right choice.
“This is about commitment and competency. This is about integrity and honesty. This is about electing a candidate who is genuine and genuinely one of us,” Sebastian said. She said Christian has stood in the gap for the people of Rural West “long before the ABLP announced her candidacy and long before it was confirmed on Nomination Day.”
Marshall meanwhile courted sisterhood, telling female electors to vote for the women on the ABLP slate.
“I am calling on our women,” she said. “We are doing this for you. We want to make sure that you are felt in the Cabinet (and) in the Parliament, to make sure your voices are heard. We do this to help develop our women throughout Antigua and Barbuda.”
Browne commended Christian to Rural West, saying, “She means well for you. She advocates for you, and she cares about your needs all the time. This is the person you need to represent you.”
Christian, an attorney by profession, first came onto the political stage as the first female candidate of what was then the late Lester Bird’s Antigua Labour Party for the 2004 elections. She lost to the incumbent Baldwin Spencer, whose victory and that of his UPP crowned him prime minister. A repeat run for Christian in the elections of 2009 ended with another Spencer and UPP victory. But Christian’s political star kept rising, as she was appointed leader of Government Business in the Senate and was one of the few on the party’s front lines in Parliament while the then ABLP was in opposition. Christian is also a one-time chairperson of the party, serving under Bird.
Under the leadership of Gaston Browne, the ABLP went with Londell Benjamin in 2014. He lost to Spencer in what would become Spencer’s swan song. Benjamin would return to defeat Lewis in the 2018 elections. The incumbent then gave way to Christian.
In a long speech in which he listed the accomplishments of the ABLP, Gaston Browne praised Christian, calling her competent and committed. He also pledged to work with her to transform the constituency.
“She was born in this community; she grew up in this community; and she still lives in this community. That tells you something about her commitment,” the Prime Minister said.
He referenced her manifesto for the constituency, Carpe Diem, pledging to work closely with her to ensure that the plans and programs are implemented.
“Comrade Gail Christian will get the full support of my administration, so whatever she promised you tonight, you can be assured it will be delivered,” PM Browne said. This commitment goes along with one made previously, guaranteeing ministerial appointments to the four women on the ABLP slate, which includes Knacyntar Nedd, the candidate in Barbuda who was missing Thursday due to campaign activities on the sister island.
Then it was time.
Rushell Ellis introduced Christian. Her endorsement said a vote for Christian is a vote for access to tertiary education, employment and homeownership. “When she is elected, this constituency will be a force to be reckoned with. We are coming with a force. We are coming with true representation,” Ellis said.
A calm and confident Christian stepped to the podium. Her speech Wednesday night acknowledged the journey to her 2023 candidacy.
“I am filled, and justly so, with emotion tonight. My hope and dreams for the people of Rural West stand on a strong foundation,” Christian said.
“It has been a long and winding road from when I first started out on this journey,” she added. “It is my path to purpose. There have been good days and not so good days, but I am here because of His grace and mercy. I want to assure you that throughout it all, my love, my passion, my commitment to you, the people of Rural West, never waned, and it is still sure and steady today.”
Christian touched some plans in her manifesto. These included the establishment of a Women’s Community Cooperative Credit Union; a poly clinic; a community center which would offer, amongst other things, free supplemental learning and legal aid; improvement of the sporting facilities and the creation of parks; a home for arts and culture; the expansion of affordable housing; and a period poverty eradication plan that would see each schoolgirl in the community receiving free monthly supplies.
“What we have presented in our manifesto didn’t come from me and me alone,” Christian said. “It came from you. When we canvassed, you told us what was needed for St. John’s Rural West, and that is the kind of representative I will be—one who listens and one who will use her heart and hands for the upliftment of the people of St. John’s Rural West.
Music punctuated the long night that started with a whistle stop and ended in speeches. The hook and chorus of the ABLP’s campaign song Not Dem Again was played often. Christian’s team threw three into the mix. There was the English and Spanish Caribbean infused R&B medley with CP, Royalty Reign, Jenny Medina and Nico; a ragalypso by Serious; and the traditional calypso by calypso icon Sir Paul “King Obstinate” Richards.
