The Tribune

LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Golden Isles by-election delivered a clear message about the Coalition of Independents’ political ceiling: despite years of public frustration with the PLP and FNM, the COI remains far from competing as a national alternative.

COI candidate Brian Rolle secured 348 votes — 8.99 percent of ballots cast — a figure that places the movement essentially where it stood in 2021 and underscores how little electoral ground it has gained, even as political dissatisfaction has deepened.

Founded in 2020 as an answer to decades of PLP–FNM dominance, the Coalition entered the political scene promising disruption. Its national debut in the 2021 General Election, when it collected roughly 6 percent of the vote, hinted at potential. In the years since, the party has expanded its organisational footprint, ratified dozens of candidates, and earlier this year added its first sitting MP.

Yet the Golden Isles result shows that infrastructure and visibility have not translated into broad voter embrace. The constituency remained firmly a two-party contest, with COI support clustered in a few polling divisions — 14.23 percent in Division 4 and 15.46 percent in Division 6B — and far lower elsewhere. The final tally reinforces a pattern: isolated pockets of enthusiasm, but no sign of the sustained surge required to challenge the established parties.

The Tribune was unable to reach party officials up to press time.