Barbados has had its share of Independents jousting in General Elections over the decades and its parade of minority opposition movements like Dr Richie Haynes’ short-lived National Democratic Party, or Grenville Phillips II’s ephemeral Solutions Barbados or the vindictive United Progressive Party are still relatively fresh in the minds of a possibly cynical clique of ballot casters.

Such movements under the right concepts could’ve carried this country forward, Grenada had 7 political parties at one point, while Israel has 13 including the Likud movement which seems more rejuvenative than a proverbial cockroach.

The USA itself had Ross Perot in 1992 who actually seemed very close to making a difference until he yanked the rug from under himself… Was he bought or threatened?

Canada and the UK seem to have had better luck with 3rd alternatives, yet even their own countrymen doubted their efficacy.

The Liberal Democrats (sought) to break the two-party duopoly of Labour and the Conservatives, he said, and end the “pass the parcel” electoral system by increasing their share of the vote to 33% from the 22.1% received in 2005.

Nick Clegg of the Lib Dems surprised many Brits 14 years ago when their Kingmaker status became reality, over in Canada their NDP did it twice with the late Jack Layton in 2011 then again in 2021…

A former criminal defence lawyer, (Jagmeet Singh) moved into Ontario provincial politics in 2011, where he made a name for himself by pushing policies on increasing police accountability. Then, just six years later aged 38, he made the leap to the federal stage by decisively winning an NDP leadership race. 

This is where the Conservative Barbados Leadership Party (CBL) is seeking to draw the line, their Vice President Anthony Hinds made it clear in his view, they’re no Minority Opposition movement, instead, they should be considered as Alternative Leadership.

In this video, they also look at the possibility of introducing Questions for sitting MP’s like Canada and the UK.

The official colour for the CBL is Purple, and they expect to announce a full slate of candidates and their Manifesto by either the end of February or March this year. VP Hinds said many CV’s were submitted but they asked for no public disclosure yet for fear of their careers – he took a dim view of this alarm under the current dispensation, he says the quest for democracy is just that and not an opportunity for victimisation.

This was noted by the CBL’s Vice President Anthony Hinds, who also noted Security at Schools was approached by them recently and although Minister Kay McConney never officially replied, they realised swathes of their original document was put forward to the public as if the Education Ministry created it from whole cloth.

In this video, the Bajan Reporter asked about 3 major topics on the minds of Barbadians at this moment – Crime, World Bank & IMF Loans as well as the state of roads across the country.

Also present for this media briefing was Assistant VP Alan Springer who Shadows the portfolio of Culture (we can only hope he’s mellowed since knee-stepping with Joseph Atherley and attempting to repudiate the character of Bajan Reporter in its Facebook group a while back), reporters also met the CBL’s General Secretary Shannon Gonsalves who’s a certified microbiologist – she also Shadows Health, Education & Food Security as well as their Assistant Gen. Scty. Elvis Corbin who’s also their 2nd Official Spokesperson and Shadows the portfolios of Airport, Prisons and Government Schools.

The CBL is yet to reveal if their movement has an official motto, slogan, or mission and vision statements – possibly this will be made clear at dispensation of their Manifesto and the line-up of Candidates…