Lady St John unhappy with Thorne’s move

by CARLOS ATWELL carlosatwell@nationnews.com

THE WOMAN AT the heart of Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne’s nomination into the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is not pleased he has crossed the floor.

In 2015, Thorne, now a King’s Counsel, was nominated to represent the Christ Church South constituency on behalf of the BLP by Stella Lady St John, widow of the late Prime Minister Sir Harold Bernard St John. The event was held at St Christopher’s Primary School and reportedly took less than three minutes as there were no other nominees.

On February 9, he quit the BLP, crossed the floor and last week was sworn in as Opposition Leader, selecting two DLP members as his senators. Last Friday, Thorne submitted his application to become a member of the party once again and on Monday he was accepted as the DLP’s political leader.

Yesterday at her home along Enterprise Beach, Christ Church, Lady St John, now in her 90s, expressed her disappointment at the development.

“I nominated him to take my husband’s seat as my husband spent the greater part of his political life as the representative of Christ Church South. He phoned and asked me if he could come and see me because he wanted me to nominate him . . . but I didn’t know [Mr] Thorne then,” she said.

Lady St John said after the nomination, she read Thorne’s book Whispers Of Peace To My Soul,

which she loved and recommended everyone to read.

She said she could never have imagined the day would come when he would cross the floor and leave the party her family had been involved with for years.

She showed the team a letter to the Editor published in yesterday’s DAILY NATION entitled Thorne Should Create His Own Party.

Lady St John highlighted the part which read: “The electorate has not forgotten nor forgiven the last DLP administration”.

“I supported my party, the party my husband led as Prime Minister, the party my family was a part of. I didn’t nominate him because of any personal knowledge of the man and now I don’t know his logic, I would like to know his school of logic. The BLP did not need him, they didn’t make him a minister, but who could forgive or forget the last DLP Government?” she asked.

The paper also canvassed the thoughts of other residents in the constituency, mainly from Enterprise and Carter’s Gap, with many requesting they not be identified.

“I am comfortable with Ralph and I’m okay with the move he made. The only thing I didn’t like is he appointed those senators without consulting the Dems,” said one man.

Another man said the people in the constituency did not see Thorne much but added this was true of most politicians.

“In general you don’t see these politicians much until elections. The Dems need some help so it’s a good move he made. Truth is, I vote but I don’t really follow politics much,” he said.

A third man said he did not like the fact Thorne was not someone seen in the constituency often enough.

“He don’t mix up. I think if you are a representative, then pass through the constituency every few months and see the people. When you were canvassing, you were all through here,” he said, adding people changing parties “happens all the time” and he would be happy as long as Thorne did a good job.

Another man added: “I can’t say he was a bad fellow or a bad representative, I wish him all the best. My view is if you have a problem in the constituency then you head to the constituency office. If the problem gets resolved, you ain’t bound to see the representative.”

The MIDWEEK NATION also visited the BLP Christ Church South constituency office, which still featured posters of Thorne as a member of the party. A source said they were not making any comment until next week when things had died down more.

In 1994 and 1999, Thorne unsuccessfully contested the St Michael North seat under the DLP before switching to the BLP where he successfully won the Christ Church South seat in the 2018 and 2022 polls.