AG gets ULP nod in South Leeward 10 years after first bid

Attorney General Grenville Williams, on Saturday, received the nod, unopposed, as the ruling Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) candidate for South Leeward in the next general election.

Williams, who is originally from Lower Questelles but lives in Cane Grove, was selected at the party’s candidate selection conference at the Vermont Community Centre, where he bowed out at a primary a decade ago and endorsed Jomo Thomas.

Former MP for South Leeward Dr. Douglas Slater, who held the seat from 2001 to 2010, endorsed Williams’ candidacy, which has to be ratified by the central executive of the ULP.

Williams was also endorsed by David Browne and Minerva Glasgow, who failed in their bids in 2010 and 2020 to retain or retake the seat for the ULP.

Thomas, who was the candidate in 2015 and went on to be speaker of the House of Assembly under the ULP, broke ranks with the party in 2020 and has been calling on Vincentians to vote the ULP out of office.

Williams’ nomination pits him against Nigel “Nature” Stephenson of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), who will be seeking a fourth consecutive five-year term in office.

Stephenson defeated Browne, Thomas and Glasgow, increasing his margin of victory in 2020 from 118 against Thomas — the incumbent’s worst performance — to 505 in 2020 against Glasgow.

Asordo Bennett, an independent candidate who had endorsed the ULP on social media, received 16 votes in the 2020 polls.

Stephenson won the seat in 2010, attracting 199 votes more than Browne, when there was a three-way race in which the Green Party received 8 votes.

Williams, a national scholar who is in his 40s, is the third and most senior public servant to be identified as a candidate for the next general elections, which are widely expected by November, ahead of the February 2026 constitutional deadline.

In May 2023, the ULP’s North Windward constituency council selected Hospital Administrator Grace Walter as their preferred candidate in the next general election.

During the Budget Debate in January, Montgomery Daniel, who has been representing North Windward since 2001, announced that he would not seek re-election.

Also, Kaschaka Cupid, deputy comptroller of Inland Revenue, has been ratified as the NDP’s candidate for West St. George for the next general election.

Last year, Parliament approved with bi-partisan support a law allowing public servants to contest general elections and return to their post with all benefits intact if they lose.

Williams had expressed since 2022 his intention to make another bid to become the ULP’s candidate for South Leeward.

He made his 2015 candidacy bid while serving as director of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Investigations Unit (SVGFIU).

He went on to serve as the director of the Asset Recovery Unit of the Regional Security System, which is based in Barbados.

His role included capacity building, legal and regulatory strengthening and enforcement in countering serious organised crimes and money laundering across the Eastern Caribbean.

He first joined the ARU as Regional Financial Investigations Advisor.

Williams spent 10 years at the SVGFIU, eight of which he was its director.

During his tenure as director of SVGFIU, the unit became internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in financial investigations related to proceeds of crime and the recovery of assets.

Williams has a Masters of Law (LLM) with specialisation in banking and finance from the University of London and a Post-graduate diploma in compliance from the International Compliance Association. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of the West Indies and Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School.