ANGUILLA ELECTION: NEW GOVERNMENT ELECTED

The Anguilla United Front(AUF) has unseated the Anguilla Progressive Movement(APM) in general election in the UK Overseas Territory.

The AUF led by Cora Richardson Hodge had a convincing victory over ex-Premier Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster's APM winning 8 of the 11 seats at stake.

(There are 13 seats in the Anguilla House of Assembly, 11 are decided by public vote with the other 2 reserved for ex-officio members).

Cora Richardson-Hodge becomes Anguilla's first female Premier.

Ex APM premier Ellis, former tourism minister Haydn Hughes and parliamentary secretary Merrick  Richardson will comprise the opposition.

The main issues in the campaign were the economy -  especially issues surrounding a controversial Goods and Services Tax(GST), management of Anguilla's hugely successful '.ai' domain name, tourism, cost of living and concerns about crime.

One key topic which surfaced early in the campaign surrounded removing the franchise from diaspora voters. However, that was shelved following an outcry and demands to keep the longstanding system in place.

Anguilla has 12,432 registered voters from a population of around 15,900.

Thirty-four candidates contested the poll with voting done across two days. Day one (25/2/25) was for senior citizens, emergency and other services, with the rest of the electorate casting their ballots the following day (26/2/25).