Improving Democratic Labour Party's Public Image and Unity: Insights from Political Scientists on Recent Leadership Transition

Political scientists Dr Kristina Hinds and Devaron Bruce suggested on Tuesday the Democratic Labour Party ought to focus on improving its public image and uniting the party now that Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne has become the DLP’s “face” and “voice”.

Thorne’s re-entry into the party ended what many perceived as a gaffe on the DLP’s part, as it took days to approve his application, even though Thorne had expressed a desire to rejoin the party shortlyafter leaving the Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party two Fridays ago.

Dr Hinds, a University of the West Indies academic who was replaced as an independent senator by Thorne’s opposition nominees in the Senate, told Barbados TODAY the Dems needed to unite under their new political leader and have a cohesive policy on how to be an effective opposition moving forward, now that the issue of Thorne rejoining the party after a 20-year hiatus had been resolved.

“I think now the Democratic Labour Party has to work on putting out a unified agenda and approach to policy, to legislation, and carving out a future for the political party now that this has been resolved,” she said. “They can use the addition of Mr Thorne to the party as an opportunity to attract membership and an opportunity to increase their relevance.

“One would really hope they capitalise on this opportunityand leave some of the political theatre that surrounded Throne’s entry into the party behind them, and get to the work of rebuilding the mass base of the party and showing the public that they are a relevant force.”

She issued a caution to the DLP’s leadership and supporters not to become unduly defensive in the face of criticism from many public quarters, especially in light of their very visible sequence ofblunders throughout the re-admittance process.

Dr Hinds said: “I hope that they do understand and that they take the criticisms seriously and don’t act in a kind of defensive way, where they see people as being against the political party.

The criticisms that they have received, they can use to avoid these kinds of blunders in the future. The DLP has a lot that it can gain, but it also runs the risk of remaining irrelevant if we continue to see these kinds of rifts inside of the party and indecisiveness emerging publicly.

“The DLP has to find a better way of managing this public image.”

She added: “Right now I find it kind of unfortunate that instead of focusing on the reasons that Thorne left the Barbados Labour Party, and having that be what the news cycle has concentrated on over the last week, most of the emphasis has been on the DLP itself.”