Trinidad and Tobago general election, 2015

Trinidad and Tobago general election, 2015

7 September 2015 (2015-09-07)

All 41 seats to the House of Representatives   First party Second party   Leader Keith Rowley Kamla Persad-Bissessar Party PNM UNC Alliance People's Partnership Leader since 2010 Leader's seat Diego Martin West Siparia Last election 12 seats, 39.5% 29 seats, 59.8% Seats before 13 27 Seats won 23 18 Seat change 11 11

Prime Minister before election Kamla Persad-Bissessar People's Partnership Subsequent Prime Minister Keith Rowley People's National Movement

Trinidad and Tobago
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Trinidad and Tobago
Government President (list) Anthony Carmona Prime Minister Keith Rowley
Parliament Senate House of Representatives Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar
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General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 7 September 2015.^[1] The date of the general elections was announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on 13 June 2015.^[2] The result was a victory for the opposition People's National Movement, which received 52% of the vote and won 23 of the 41 seats in the House of Representatives.^[3]

Background

The 2010 general elections were won by the People's Partnership (PP) coalition, an alliance of the United National Congress (UNC), the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), the Congress of the People (COP) and the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP). The PP took 29 of the 41 seats, with the People's National Movement (PNM) winning the other 12. Prior to the 2015 general elections, two by-elections were held in St Joseph and Chaguanas West, which saw the seats held by the PP won by the PNM and Independent Liberal Party (ILP) respectively.^[4]

Electoral system

The 41 elected members of the House of Representatives were elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post.^[5] A total of 2,199 polling stations were used.^[6]

Campaign

A total of 127 candidates contested the election for 17 different political parties, with another five running as independents. The PNM was the only party to contest all 41 seats, and only two other parties contested more than half the seats; the United National Congress ran in 28 and the ILP in 26.

The COP ran in eight seats, the Laventille Outreach for Vertical Enrichment, the NJAC, New National Vision and Trinidad Humanity Campaign all contested three seats, whilst Tobago Forwards, the TOP and the Platform of Truth ran in two. The other parties only nominated a single candidate, including the Democratic Development Party, the Independent Democratic Party, the National Coalition for Transportation, the New Voice, the Youth Empowerment Party and the Youth, National Organisations, Farmers Unification, Policy Reformation.^[6]

The UNC, NJAC, COP and TOP again ran under the PP banner, and did not run candidates against each other.^[7]

Opposition leader Keith Rowley described the election campaign as one of the most "gruelling" in the country's history, but highlighted that the campaign had been conducted in high spirits and without violence or unrest.^[8]

Results

Preliminary results on election night indicated that the PNM had won a majority government with 22 of 41 seats, but with a majority of the popular vote flowing to the ruling People's Partnership coalition.^[9] On the final count however the PNM clearly secured an absolute majority of votes cast and obtained an extra seat from the PP, winning 23 of the 41 seats. The four parties in the PP alliance received a combined 46.6% of the vote, winning the remaining eighteen seats.^[3] Outgoing Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar denied allegations that her coalition had run an ineffective campaign.^[9] Her incoming successor, PNM leader Keith Rowely, described the mandate his party had won as an "awesome responsibility" and pledged "to make every effort to rekindle the feeling of nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago".^[8]

By constituency

Winning candidates are in bold font.^[10][11]

References

Elections in Trinidad and Tobago
General elections	1925 1928 1933 1938 1946 1950 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1995 2000 2001 2002 2007 2010 2015
Local elections	Trinidad 1946 1953 1956 1959 1968 1971 1977 1980 1983 1989 1992 1996 1999 2003 2010 2013 2016 Tobago 1946 1953 1956 1959 1968 1971 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2001 2005 2009 2013
West Indies elections	1958