80% incumbents: The PLP is betting on experience over ‘change’

With its full slate of candidates now ratified, the Progressive Liberal Party is heading into the next general election betting on experience.

Out of 41 candidates, only eight are new faces. That means roughly 80 percent of the Progressive Liberal Party’s slate are incumbents, sitting members of Parliament who are seeking another term.

Just under 20 percent are newcomers.

The PLP would have to defend its record in an era when voters are calling for change.

Incumbency can come with advantages since sitting parliamentarians are already known in their constituencies. For the PLP, this tactic suggests they are confident that its candidates and MPs have done enough on the ground to convince voters they deserve another run.

But it also comes with risks.

When the PLP runs mostly incumbents on its ticket, the campaign becomes more about performance and voters ask have they done enough to deserve another term or do we vote for someone new. Unresolved issues from public healthcare frustrations and cost-of-living issues to crime concerns and road issues, land squarely at the feet of these MPs already in office, and they will feel the weight of voter dissatisfaction.

Because of this, the PLP cannot present itself as “new” or “refreshed.” With few new candidates, the PLP is not offering much break from the last five years.

This election will become more like a referendum on the PLP’s governance.

The PLP is asking for renewed trust on what it has already done. A political analyst said that is a harder sell than campaigning as an opposition, but it can only work if voters feel progress and stability more than a need for change.

Now that all candidates are ratified, the party has shifted into campaign mode. MPs are fanning out across constituencies, and the countdown to the dissolution of Parliament has begun.