Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party
The Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party was a minor political party in the Bahamas in the 1970s and 1980s.
The party was founded in 1971 by a group belonging to the youth organization of Progressive Liberal Party who were inspired by the Black Panther Party in the United States.[1] In the 1977 elections it put up five candidates, but received only 55 votes and failed to win a seat. John T. McCartney became party president in 1979, and whilst it improved its performance in the 1982 elections, with 18 candidates receiving 181 votes, it still failed to win a seat.[2] The last election contested by the party was the a by-election in St. Barnabas constituency in 1987, which was not contested by the official opposition Free National Movement. The party's candidate was its then-leader, Lionel Carey. Carey came bottom in the poll, below the Workers' Party.
The party was never taken seriously by most Bahamian voters, a fact reflected in their abysmal vote totals. Every single candidate that ever ran on behalf of the party lost their deposit (their 1982 manifesto called for its elimination).[3] Members addressed each other as 'comrade', which was also lampooned.
References
[edit]- ^ McCartney, John T. (1999). "The influences of the black Panther Party (USA) on the vanguard party of the Bahamas (1972–1987)". New Political Science. 21 (2): 205–215. doi:10.1080/07393149908429863. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ Nohlen, D. (2005), Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, pp. 79-82. ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
- ^ Nassau Guardian, Election Special, 10 June 1982.
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