Ruling party narrowly retains power in Barbados

The elections in Barbados went down to the wire with the ruling Democratic Labour Party led by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart winning 16 seats in the 30 seat National Assembly.

Stuart who succeeded the late David Thompson as Prime Minister in 2010, led his party into today's election with public opinion polls suggesting he would lose.

The result means the DLP lost 4 seats after winning 20 seats in the last poll held in 2008.

It was the second election defeat in a row for former Prime Minister and current Opposition Leader Owen Arthur.

Given the slim majority and the current economic crisis facing the country, analysts suggest there may be another election in the near future.

According to the preliminary results, Stuart polled 2,705 votes as against 1,459 for Noel Lynch of the main opposition Barbados labour Party (BLP) and 43 for Alex Mitchell, an independent candidate.

Mara Thompson, the wife of the late prime minister David Thompson easily retained the St. John constituency that she won in a by election following the death of her husband in 2011, as preliminary results in Thursday’s general elections are released here.

Thompson received 4, 025 votes as compared with 1,091 for Hudson Griffith of the BLP.