Prime Minister Gaston Browne has claimed that internal polling conducted by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party places him far ahead of both United Progressive Party figures in public preference for national leadership. According to Antigua.news, Browne revealed the figures during his weekly broadcast, stating that 55% of respondents with a preference identified him as the best person to lead the country.
Browne said 75% of poll respondents indicated a preference, while 25% remained undecided. UPP leader Jamale Pringle received 15% support in the survey, while former UPP leader Harold Lovell registered just 5%. Browne suggested the undecided bloc would ultimately break in his favour come election time.
"So, between him and Pringle, they'll be fighting to get maybe about 30% combined," Browne said.
Browne used the figures to directly challenge what he described as Lovell's belief that he remains a viable path to the prime ministership, arguing the data contradicted that position entirely.
"Why he thinks that he's some saviour and he's some big-time leader and that Gaston Browne and the Labour Party would be afraid of him," Browne said.
The polling claims come after regional pollster Peter Wickham suggested that the Labour Party's commanding by-election victory in St. Philip's North on March 16 had created conditions for a snap general election.
Browne argued the numbers reflected broader public dissatisfaction with the UPP's ongoing internal divisions, contrasting this with what he described as momentum behind his administration's development agenda.
"If all you have done for the last decade in opposition is to curse Gaston Browne and other members of the Labour Party, what value do you think that will bring to the country and its people," Browne said. "After a while, people just get tired."
Browne further claimed that Lovell had shown no willingness to work within the UPP's existing leadership structure under Pringle.
"He's not trying to come back to serve or even to present a decent programme to the people," Browne said. "He's just trying to go and grab or literally drag the leadership away from Pringle."
