As a long time supporter of the United Progressive Party (UPP), I never imagined I would feel compelled to speak out against it. But today, I am filled with disappointment, frustration, and disbelief at how the party has treated Barbara Coates, a woman who has invested her time, resources, and her very family life into the vision and cause of the UPP. And now, after all that sacrifice, the party no longer wants her? It’s outrageous.
Barbara Coates stood up when many others sat back. She was not only willing to represent her community, but she also opened her life to public scrutiny, laying bare her family’s private affairs for the sake of transparency and commitment.
Her loyalty, passion, and courage should have been celebrated not discarded. And for what? To replace her with Harold Lovell, the very definition of political rejection? A man who has run twelve times and lost ten times. The people of City West have already spoken repeatedly, they don’t want him. And now the party thinks Sea View Farm and All Saints West should embrace him instead? It’s not just tone deaf, it’s an insult to voters’ intelligence and trust.
This kind of political maneuvering is exactly why people are losing faith in politics altogether. It’s why voter apathy is rising, and why young people feel disconnected from national service. We cannot build a stronger future by recycling leadership that has already been rejected. And we certainly can’t ask communities to invest in a party that doesn’t honor and defend those who invest in it first.
For the first time in my life, I am prepared to vote against my own party. My wife, my two children, and I, four votes, will not be cast for Harold Lovell or any party that disrespects genuine commitment like that of Barbara Coates. If this is the direction the UPP wants to go, then it clearly no longer stands for what many of us believed it did.
This is not just about politics, it’s about principle. And until the UPP remembers what those principles are, I am done with the party thing.
Respectfully, Strong Upp Supporter
