Grenadians go to the polls next month

Last Updated on Monday, 5 October 2026, 19:59 by Writer

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell formally announced that residents would go to the polls on November 5.

Accompanied by the symbolic blowing of conch shells, he told thousands of supporters of his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) that they would have an opportunity to re-elect him and his party with a wider majority in the House.

“I have a feeling that my friends want a zero (percent) this time around. They want a fifteen-zero (of elected seats in the House) this time round, or they want minus zero as the people would say,” the Prime Minister said while boasting about efforts his administration had made to ease the cost of consumer items and lower electricity tariffs by providing a subsidy until the end of 2026.

At stake for the estimated 70,000 eligible voters are 15 elected seats, with the main rival being the New National Party (NNP) led by Emmalin Pierre, a teacher by profession, who took over the reins from veteran Grenadian politician and former prime minister Dr Keith Mitchell.

Dr Mitchell, a mathematician, told the final sitting of the House last week that he would most likely be bowing out of active politics after 43 years during which time he presided over improved electricity, water, telecommunications, and sport projects.

For this year’s elections, major issues for the southern Caribbean ‘Spice Isle’ nation, which includes the sister islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, are rising cost of living and allegations by the NNP of mismanagement and squandermania.

The elections come at a time when a team of government-appointed local and foreign experts has been assessing seismic and other data with the hope of inviting major international companies to explore for oil and gas offshore.