Congratulations to Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party in Britain. The reasoning behind their resounding victory in the general election can be easily accessed on social media.

Frankly speaking, and in TT local parlance, it is indeed their time now. Why? Because at this point in time political beauty for the Tory vote no longer resides in the eyes of several million voters.

Here in TT promises made on a political platform must be viewed with the idea of believability and the ability to achieve certain outcomes without destroying the various aspects of the TT business elite. Why bother to mince words?

Labour in TT is not as strong as out there in foreign. Here they do not all read from the same page in the trade union hymn book. The membership can choose whichever political party for which they wish to vote.

End of story.

So, can the incumbent PNM be similarly ousted in 2025 as happened to the Tories in the UK? This will not be easy. Why? Because the PNM and seemingly forever opposition UNC voter support bases remain steadfast, come hell or Beryl-type hurricane high water.

Swaying the base voters away from PNM/UNC cannot be achieved with a promise-them-everything-for-free modus operandi. Read my lips here. Nothing is for free.

The 2025 general election calls for more than just buying a political lottery ticket and hoping to win. Will it be a case of just take me to your brand new unblemished political leader? Who is that? And from where?

Globally, crime escalated after the covid19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The horrific results of climate change continues to emasculate political strength. Can it be business as usual if a new leader of a coalition party comprised of people unskilled at years of governance says, “Look at me, I will save you?”

Ask yourself this: If nothing in life is for free, how can anyone win an election by promising overnight miracles? It has taken over 62 years to get where we are today. We are definitely not Haiti. Ask our business elite and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

So, which so-called newly minted TT political leader will be able to galvanise thousands of voters based on sheer personal charisma?

Here in TT we expect every single aspirant wishing to be prime minister to be politically squeaky clean. We do not want anybody with so-called cocoa in the sun.

Which will leave the two largest parties, the PNM and UNC, fighting at carefully enhancing their daily political image for a victory in 2025.

Political image in TT is everything.

Labour in TT is nowhere like Labour in the UK.

So, let us get very, very real, please.

LYNETTE JOSEPH

Diego Martin