Prime Minister Gaston Browne took aim at opposition politician Harold Lovell during a town hall meeting in Seaview Farm, urging residents of All Saints West to reject the United Progressive Party’s (UPP) candidate in the next general elections.
Browne described Lovell as a “spent force” and “delusional,” questioning his ability to represent the constituency and accusing him of decades of political failure.
“A spent force. A man who is 70 years of age. The Bible says what? Three score and ten,” Browne said. “So nothing tall futuristic about him. Now, a 70-year-old man can’t have no energy. But he’s going around telling people that he’s younger than Comrade Smith. I say better look at me.”
The Prime Minister contrasted Lovell’s record with that of Hon. Anthony Smith Jr., who recently aligned himself with the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) after leaving the UPP. He praised Smith as a young leader with “energy and ambition” who represents the constituency’s future.
“I want the people of All Saints West to understand that by supporting this young man, Comrade Smith, you are literally supporting the future,” Browne said. “Why would anyone want to go back to a candidate who is on rewind? We are moving forward—he’s on rewind.”
Browne also criticized Lovell’s performance as the former MP for St. John’s City East, claiming that his former constituents rejected him repeatedly and that he failed to deliver on basic community improvements.
“The place where he came from, City East, where he spent practically all his life—they rejected him eight out of ten times,” Browne said. “He was finance minister and representative, and he didn’t see the Bishopgate Street Clinic in disrepair. It took Gaston Browne in 2014 to get the People’s Republic of China to build a new polyclinic in Villa.”
Browne concluded by warning that electing Lovell would “reverse progress” in All Saints West, saying, “It is for the people of this constituency to send Harold Lovell a firm message—go back from whence you came.”
