“Let us say thanks and praise to Almighty God—when God says yes, nobody can say ‘no’ … this has been a tremendous blessing … now that the UNC has won—everybody wins!” Persad-Bissessar declared at 10.48 pm to mammoth cheers from a sea of yellow-clad supporters at the UNC’s Mulchan Seuchan Road, Chaguanas headquarters
“It is now that the real work starts … we’ll be focused on delivering on our promises. I give you the assurance that no one will be left behind—when UNC wins, Trinbago wins,” Persad-Bissessar declared, thanking the partners of the party’s Coalition of Interests.
The UNC retained its 19 seats and also won marginal East-West corridor and San Fernando West seats held by the PNM.
She has also welcomed the Tobago People’s Party (TPP)—led by Tobago House of Assembly chairman Farley Augustine—which won the two Tobago seats held by the PNM.
The UNC and TPP will now share the Government in Parliament, while the PNM enters Opposition—making it three parties in Parliament.
PNM Political Leader Keith Rowley conceded defeat at 10.15 pm, ahead of Persad-Bissessar’s victory speech. He said, “Tonight is not a good night for the PNM … it is clear at this time that we have lost the election. We have done it before, conceding defeat on election night but tomorrow is a new day.
“We conceded in 1986, 1995 and in 2010, so this 70-year-old party, sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t win—tonight is one of those nights where surprisingly, we have not done very well in the General Election. But from (Tuesday), the PNM will begin to prepare itself for the next call within the next 60 months. We wish all the leaders well, as our country is now in their hands.”
Rowley said if last night’s trend held, PNM would end up with 10 or 12 seats. He said he had no regrets in supporting Stuart Young as prime minister. Young, at Rowley’s side, said he had won his Port-of-Spain North/St Ann’s West seat. While saying he was obviously disappointed, Young vowed to keep fighting.
“The electorate has spoken tonight and we look forward to tomorrow morning … we’ll be back on the road, rebuilding and encouraging the youths to come forth … I certainly look forward to playing a part in that and a leadership role in that.”
Last night’s UNC victory was a dramatic climax to two years of election hints from the PNM, repeated demands for election by the UNC and a short sharp campaign in the snap poll called by Young, four months ahead of the term’s end in August. Young had announced the election date on March 18—a day after he was appointed prime minister.
Yesterday’s voting featured long lines in many of the 2,316 polling stations. While some inner-city stations had a slow beginning from 6 am, steady streams were reported. In the 2020 General Election, turnout was 58.08 per cent.
On whether the UNC would be open to an arrangement with the TPP, Persad-Bissessar said, “I always said there are many rooms in the House of the Rising Sun, there’s a space and place for all. We need to work together to rebuild T&T so all are welcome and all will be welcome—we have to rebuild T&T.”
Prime Minister-elect Kamla Persad-Bissessar became T&T’s first female Prime Minister in 2010 as head of the People’s Partnership coalition.
In the 2025 election, she had sought a “comeback” like US President Donald Trump, on whose Republican campaign policies the UNC had taken a page in terms of security and illegal migrants.
The UNC had waged a sharp savvy campaign based on its slogan “Yellow is the Code—When UNC Wins Everybody Wins.”
The UNC had targeted “grassroots” and workers via a Coalition of Interests from the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Public Services Association (PSA), Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union (SWWTU, smaller parties PEP, COP and Laventille Outreach for Vertical Enrichment, also featuring some former PNM faces and a fleet of social influencers, including entertainers.
The election was conducted under the observation of teams from Caricom and the Commonwealth.
