NDP hasn’t invited me back
Junior Minister for Financial Services, Trade and Economic Development, Lorna Smith, has revealed that she has not been formally invited to rejoin the National Democratic Party (NDP).
With Ronnie Skelton’s Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) now having merged with the NDP, the party has been working to strengthen its base in preparation for the 2027 general election. Reports suggest that several influential former members have already been re-invited to the NDP, but Smith said she has yet to receive such a call.
“Let’s say I have not been invited back. They perhaps are getting to it but I haven’t been invited,” Smith said recently on the Talking Points radio show. She also described herself as an “independent” currently working with the government.
It remains unclear whether the NDP leadership intends to extend an invitation to Smith. She initially entered the 2023 general election as an independent candidate, later joining the NDP before the campaign concluded.
However, following the elections, Smith broke ranks with the party and resumed her independent status, forming a coalition with the administration led by Premier Natalio Wheatley. At the time of breaking ranks with the NDP, Smith contended that she felt the territory was in a state of limbo without a government being formed hours after the elections had ended.
Her post-election alliance with the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is widely believed to be a key factor that prevented the existing Opposition from forming the government. Smith is also credited with spearheading the push for a higher minimum wage and for pressuring local banks to improve customer service for both businesses and the wider public.
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The only place we putting u back in is your retirement. U help destroy our party and we don’t want no political snake’s in the new NDP.
New NDP with the same two deads Ronnie and Marlon. Gimme a break. Lorna you are better off without those losers.
Accountability is not optional—it is the bedrock of leadership. And in this instance, both the NDP and the commentary in that final paragraph have fallen short of that standard.
To suggest that Hon. Smith’s decision to align with the Virgin Islands Party was the reason the Opposition failed to form a government is not only inaccurate, it is a distortion of the facts. The Opposition’s own indecision—their failure to coalesce around a clear leader is what left Hon.Smith with no choice but to chart a course she believed to be in the national interest.
Now, I am neutral where it concerns Hon. Smith, she is a capable individual who have leverage her expertise for BOTH parties prior to being elected , but I will defend her right to stand as an independent and caucus with whichever party she deems aligned with her principles and the mandate she carries. That is not betrayal. That is the essence of being an independent and of democracy in its purest form.
The NDP must mature politically. Choose a leader.It has been a Month since the reunification and we have no knowledge of who will lead the party. Articulate a vision. And move forward. Because if you cannot even do that, then you do not have the moral authority to question those who do.
Corna lady need to go back in the Corna. I wouldn’t vote for her if she was only person running.
why should they, you are an opportunist
Not being invited back should be no surprise; you have not proven to be an asset to this Territory and seem to be a legend in your own mind. Please do us a favour and retire to your corner gracefully.
she will never be elected again, she only got through by her link to the NDP then she jumped ship to get a position