It said that the UA had won five of the nine seats in the Legislative Assembly followed by the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) with three seats and the incumbent Movement for Change and Prosperity (CMAP) winning one seat.

   The election saw the defeat of both the outgoing premier Easton Taylor-Farrell and the recently appointed MCAP leader, Dr Samuel Joseph, as well as a former speaker of the parliament, Osborne Shirley.

   MCAP’s sole winner is the outgoing agriculture minister, while former premier Donaldson Romeo, who had been an independent candidate in the 2019 general election is one of three PDM successful candidate.

   While there were 3, 464 voters eligible to cast ballots in the election for the “one constituency’ Montserrat has become following the destruction caused by the volcano which last eruption was in 2013, each voter was allowed to cast nine ballots.

   “We will govern for the people of Montserrat and we will behave that way,” said Meade, 70, who in January when he announced his return to active politics said it had “nothing to do with ego, image or legacy, but everything to do with service to the people”.

   Meade, who served as the island’s first premier between 2010 and 2014, and had also served as chief minister of this British overseas territory on two occasions between 1991 and 2010, said now was the time for all to get together and move the island forward.

   “This is where I urge all of us. We cannot progress this country, if we are not going to be working hard to progress the country and this goes for civil servants as well. Let us work together when we asking for timelines to be met, let us meet the timelines.

   “Let us not have the British governments say we don’t have the capacity in Montserrat. We must show them that we do have the capacity in this country and if we don’t have it in this country then we can find it from out Montserratians from overseas who  can come in and provide us with the assistance,” said Meade, an economist, who had also worked at the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).