Kingsley Smith wins: PLP retains its stronghold of West Grand Bahama and Bimini
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After the dust settled, Kingsley Smith won the majority of the votes in the PLP stronghold–West End and Bimini constituency, filling a seat left vacant after the death of Obediah Wilchcombe, nearly two months ago.
The win for the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidate who won most of the polling divisions, is a reposed confidence in the governing party of which Wilchcombe was government leader and served two non-consecutive terms as an area representative in a constituency that has consistently voted for PLP for many years.
“[I’m] feeling overwhelmed,” Smith told reporters after the win. “I feel elated and humbled.
“It’s an overwhelming experience to enter for the first time, the halls of parliament…I will improve what was done [in West Grand Bahama and Bimini] and take the constituency to another level.”
The constituency of West Grand Bahama and Bimini has faced neglect over the years with poor infrastructure, high unemployment and high cost of living highlighted by the FNM as it convinced voters to give the PLP “a spanking” and “put them in the dog house” as punishment.
The PLP though, with Kingsley Smith on their ticket, never admitted guilt of any kind, but promised to improve the lives of the constituents with a three-year plan, having signed a 2.8 million contract for road works, just Friday, hoping to keep voters on their side and garner swing support.
Though Smith, reared in Bimini, the chief passport officer and a former FNM, having just defected in 2021, felt like an underwhelming candidate in the race, he garnered enough votes in the PLP stronghold to beat Bishop Ricardo Grant, the FNM candidate and popular clergyman in Grand Bahama.
His win shows that the FNM did little to change the minds of an electorate that is ‘diehard’ PLP.
