PM Browne says internal party poll putting him at 55% against UPP leader at 15%

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has claimed that public polling undertaken by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party has places him significantly ahead of both United Progressive Party political figures in public preference for national leadership, with Browne drawing more than half of respondent support.

Prime Minister Browne revealed the polling figures during his weekly broadcast, stating that 75% of respondents indicated a preference, with 55% of that group identifying him as the best person to lead the country.

UPP leader Jamale Pringle received 15%, while former UPP leader Harold Lovell registered only 5%. The remaining 25% were undecided.

Browne said that the undecided bloc would, in his assessment, likely break in his favour in an election.

“So, between him and Pringle, they’ll be fighting to get maybe about 30% combined,” he said.

Browne used the figures to challenge what he described as Lovell’s belief that he remains a viable path to the prime ministership, saying the data contradicted that position entirely.

“Why he thinks that he’s some saviour and he’s some big-time leader and that Gaston Browne and the Labour Party would be afraid of him,” Browne said.

Regional pollster Peter Wickham had previously suggested the Labour Party’s commanding by-election victory in St. Philip’s North on March 16 created conditions for a snap general election.

Browne argued the polling reflected broader public dissatisfaction with the UPP’s ongoing internal divisions, contrasting it with what he described as momentum behind his administration’s development agenda.

“If all you have done for the last decade in opposition is to curse Gaston Browne and other members of the Labour Party, what value do you think that will bring to the country and its people,” Browne said. “After a while, people just get tired.”

Browne claims Lovell had shown no willingness to work within the existing leadership structure.

“He’s not trying to come back to serve or even to present a decent programme to the people,” he said. “He’s just trying to go and grab or literally drag the leadership away from Pringle.”