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Brantley elected Premier as CCM win Nevis election

Incumbent party won four of the five districts

Tuesday, 19th December 2017

Mark Brantley (file photo). Image: Facebook
Last updated: 23 December 2017, 11:37 am

Mark Brantley has been elected the 4th Premier of Nevis after his Concerned Citizens Movement party swept back into office.

The CCM added another seat to three they held from the 2013 vote, giving them four of of five.  The opposition Nevis Reformation Party’s came away with one seat, with leader Joseph Parry holding on to district five.

The closest seat was district one, which saw the CCM’s Spencer Brand triumph against NRP incumbent Roberto Hector by 596 votes to 585.

The Gingerland seat was won by Eric Evelyn for the CCM, who takes the place of former Premier Vance Amory, who retired at this election.

We have won the #Nevis elections and I am humbled to have been given the chance to lead as our island's 4th Premier. God bless Nevis!

— Hon. Mark Brantley (@markbrantley3) December 19, 2017

Both sides expressed confidence they would win, and overseas votes were flying in throughout the day.

Brantley told WINN FM before the votes were counted that his party had won on the ground, but that the electorate from overseas could not be understated.

There were small a number of complaints from both sides during the polling, with the CCM reporting duplication of names and the NRP stating that those who had been removed from the voters list were stood in line to vote.

More serious allegations came from the federation's main opposition, the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.

Hilroy Brandy, deputy commissioner of police, confirmed to local media that there had been no reports of any criminal activity in connection with the election.

This morning, Prime Minister Timothy Harris offered his congratulations to Mark Brantley, who also serves as foreign minister in the federal government.