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Political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Unity Labour Party

Key facts

inceptionOctober 16, 1994
instance ofpolitical party
countrySaint Vincent and the Grenadines
All data from the card 8
Leader
Ralph Gonsalves
Founded
16 October 1994
Merger of
Saint Vincent Labour PartyMovement for National Unity
Ideology
Democratic socialismLeft-wing nationalismAnti-imperialismRepublicanism
Political position
Left-wing
Regional affiliation
COPPPAL (observer)São Paulo Forum (affiliate)
International affiliation
Socialist International (1994–2014)
Seats in the House of Assembly
1 / 15

The Unity Labour Party (ULP) is a democratic socialist political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It was the ruling party from 2001 to 2025 under the premiership of Ralph Gonsalves.

The party is an observer of COPPPAL and an affiliate of Foro de São Paulo. From 1994 to 2014, the party was a member of Socialist International.

History

The party was formed in 1994 from the merger of the Saint Vincent Labour Party and the Movement for National Unity. The parties had run as an alliance in the elections earlier that year, promising voters that they would merge after the election regardless of the result. In the 1998 elections they received 54.6% of the vote, but the New Democratic Party won a majority of seats. The first leader of ULP, Sir Vincent Beache, resigned after the elections, and was succeeded by Ralph Gonsalves. However, in the 2001 general election the ULP won its first parliamentary majority, winning twelve of the fifteen seats. The party won another majority in the 2005 general election. The party was narrowly re-elected in the 2010 general election, winning 8 out of 15 elected seats in the House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the same taking place in the 2015 general elections and was re-elected in the 2020 general election, this time winning 9 out of 15 seats but lost the popular vote to the New Democratic Party.

In November 2020, Prime Minister Gonsalves made history by securing the fifth consecutive victory of his ULP in the general election. In the 2025 Vincentian general election, the party was defeated by Godwin Friday's NDP, with Gonsalves retaining the only winning seat of the ULP.

Election results

House of Assembly elections

Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Result
1998 Vincent Beache 28,025 54.60%
7 / 15
4 2nd Opposition
2001 Ralph Gonsalves 32,925 56.49%
12 / 15
5 1st Supermajority government
2005 31,848 55.26%
12 / 15
1st Supermajority government
2010 32,099 51.11%
8 / 15
4 1st Majority government
2015 34,246 52.28%
8 / 15
1st Majority government
2020 32,419 49.59%
9 / 15
1 1st Majority government
2025 27,152 42.14%
1 / 15
8 2nd Opposition

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Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source article