The St. Peter constituency has returned to the ruling Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) as Rawdon Turner reigned supreme in the by-election held yesterday.

Turner won overwhelmingly, winning all 11 boxes with 1,674 votes in the constituency against the United Progressive Party’s (UPP) George Wehner who had 570.

After he was declared the winner, celebrations were in full swing with a sea of red swarming him and congratulating him on this victory.

Turner, a native of Parham was filled with emotions speaking moments after his victory.

“It is a humbling experience to be given the opportunity now to represent the people who raised me as a young man. I was raised by this community and now this community has that they want me to represent them. I don’t think there’s a greater feeling. I mean, I’m just enjoying this moment. I am happy. I am feeling the love. My campaign was about touching base with the people door to door and speaking to them about the issues that matter most to them.

“I am committed to serving the people of St. Peter and together, we will achieve great things in the constituency,” Turner said.

The country’s leader outlined that the people of St. Peter overwhelmingly showed confidence in the ability of Rawdon Turner to address the needs of the constituency.  

“Even though he was defeated in the last general elections in 2023, Turner never gave up on the people of St. Peter.  He continued to advocate for them and worked with various ministries to improve the infrastructure of the constituency.  But most importantly, he was able to show the people of St. Peter that he had a plan for the constituency.  That is the level of commitment that Turner has for the constituency and the people have rewarded him with a victory,” said Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

Turner will be sworn in this morning to the Cabinet at 11:30.

“I mean it’s an honor to be serving in that capacity. The Prime Minister saw it fit to make me a government minister. I mean, we serve at his pleasure, and I look forward to offering my skill set to nation-building in that capacity,” Turner added.

What his ministerial portfolio will be is left to be seen but he has indicated previously that he would love to be a part of the Housing sector.

The constituency has been a stronghold for the ABLP having only lost this seat three times, the most recent being in the 2023 general elections by then-independent candidate the late Asot Michael.

It was the untimely death of MP Michael last November, that prompted this by-election.

Turner improved upon those voting figures bettering his general elections vote count of 899 by an impressive 775 votes. It also means that Turner received almost three times the number of votes that his opponent secured.

Many political analysts and members of the ABLP view this as a sign of victory as well, as those voters who would have defected and cast their ballot for the late Asot Michael are now back in the fold.

Another interesting fact is that whilst the ABLP candidate almost doubled his 2023 vote count, Wehner fell short of the total votes secured by the former UPP candidate, and Parham native, Tevaughn Peter Reds Hariette, by 31 votes.