Albert Area Rep Awaits Outcome of P.U.P. Showdown

P.U.P. caretaker Paul Thompson lost his initial bid to represent the Albert Division in 2015 when he ran against the then U.D.P. standard bearer Tracy Panton in the last general elections.  As it turns out, the opposition senator shares the same Regent Street address as that of his opponent’s mother.  That’s because when Thompson made his foray into politics, he registered as a resident of Fifty-six Regent Street, a location which belongs to Panton’s mother. With an upcoming P.U.P. convention in Albert in the days ahead, we asked Tracy Panton to weigh in on the address mix-up.

Tracey Panton

Tracey Panton, Area Representative, Albert Division

“I understand that he is the current caretaker for the People‘s United Party in the Albert constituency.  Many, many years ago, I guess when he was leaving home and trying to venture on his own he rented one of the apartments on the third floor of 56 Regent Street.  That‘s still an ongoing concern for my mother who is the landlord for that facility, she is the owner of that building and at that time he had registered to vote in the Albert constituency.  But he is still, in terms of his registration to vote, resides at 56 Regent Street.  He never transferred out of the division, so to speak, but I would imagine that with the re-registration process coming up in July that would be corrected.”

Isani Cayetano

“What is your view or your take on the current political landscape within your constituency in respect of Valerie Woods and Paul Thompson?  They‘re both, whichever one wins will be your competition, so to speak, in the next general elections.”

Tracey Panton

“Either of them would certainly be a political opponent.  I have made a decision to stay out of the fray of that.  Our work in the Albert constituency and our mandate is really to serve the people within the division and so my singular attention is to be sure that we are delivering services to the people in the Albert constituency and certainly services to the people who continue to support me as their area representative.  I make no apologies for that.  So they will need to sort that out, that is a matter for the People‘s United Party, so they need to resolve that.  I was told many years ago by a very astute local politician that when you focus on your constituency you don‘t have to worry about your opponent and that‘s really the way we are treating it.  Let me say that I also believe there is room for more women to take on leadership in this country and political leadership, and so I applaud Ms. Woods for taking that very bold and brave step.  It‘s not easy for women, but the people who support the People‘s United Party will have to make that determination.”