| Country: | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Abbreviation: | PNM |
| Tobago Council of the People's National Movement | |
| Leader: | Ancil Dennis |
| Leader1 Title: | Leader in House of Assembly |
| Leader1 Name: | Kelvon Morris (Minority Leader) |
| Chairperson: | Learie Paul |
| Secretary: | Akissi London |
| Youth Wing: | PNM Tobago East Youth League PNM Tobago West Youth League |
| Womens Wing: | PNM Tobago East Women's League PNM Tobago West Women's League |
| Wing2 Title: | LGBT wing |
| Headquarters: | PNM Tobago Council Office Robinson Street Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Newspaper: | MAGNUM |
| Membership Year: | 2020 |
| Regional: | West Indies Federal Labour Party (1957–1962) |
| Membership: | 10,000[1] |
| Ideology: | Liberalism[2] [3] Social liberalism[4] Nationalism Centralization |
| Position: | Centre[5] [6] to centre-left[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] |
| National: | People's National Movement |
| Colors: | Red |
| Symbol: | Balisier flower |
| Seats1 Title: | Senate |
| Seats1: | (19 August 2020 – present) |
| Seats2 Title: | House of Representatives (Tobagonian seats) |
| Seats2: | (7 September 2015 – present) |
| Seats3 Title: | Tobago House of Assembly |
| Seats3: | (6 December 2021 – present) |
The Tobago Council of the People's National Movement,[14] also known as the Tobago Council of the PNM, PNM Tobago or PNM Tobago Council, is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Tobago.[15] The party is the autonomous branch of the Trinidad and Tobago People's National Movement operating in Tobago. While its political leader acts in the local capacity, they also serve as a deputy leader on a national level. The party's executives organize for both local and national election campaigns. There have been three PNM Chief Secretaries and administrations.
Founded in 1998,[16] it is the largest and most successful political party in modern Tobagonian politics. With the exception of 2010, the party has won the biggest share of the vote at the Trinidad and Tobago general elections since 2000 and has governed the Tobago House of Assembly uninterruptedly, winning every Tobago House of Assembly election from 2001 until 2021.
The Tobago PNM currently hold 2 of 2 Tobagonian seats in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and 1 of 15 seats in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA). Former Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis is the current and youngest political leader of the PNM after being elected unopposed in the 2020 People's National Movement Tobago leadership election with Kelvon Morris, the party's lone elected assemblymember serving as the party's leader in the THA.
With its predecessor organizations and despite not being a socialist party, it was a member of the democratic socialist West Indies Federal Labour Party in the Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation from 1957 to 1962, winning the Tobago seat in the 1958 elections.
As of January 2020, the party has roughly 10,000 registered members.[17]
Members of the House of Representatives since the 7 September 2015 general election:
| Member of Parliament | Constituency | First Elected | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayanna Webster-Roy | Tobago East | 7 September 2015 | ||
| Shamfa Cudjoe | Tobago West | 7 September 2015 | ||
| Member of Parliament | Appointed | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurence Hislop[18] | 22 March 2022 | ||
| Nigel de Freitas[19] | 23 September 2015 | ||
| Hassel Bacchus[20] | 19 August 2020 | ||
| Member | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| A. N. R. Robinson | Member of Parliament for Tobago East (1961-1976) | ||
| Keith Rowley | Candidate for Tobago West (1981) | ||
| Tracy Davidson-Celestine | First female political leader (2020–2022)Assemblymember for Lambeau/Signal Hill (2021) | ||
See also: West Indies Federal Labour Party, 1958 West Indies federal elections, West Indies Federation and Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation.
| Election[22] | Party leader | Votes | Seats | Position | Government | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | ± | No. | ± | ||||||
| 1956 | Eric Williams(National party leader) | 5,529 | 47.54% | 2nd | ||||||
| 1961 | 8,208 | 68.67% | 21.13 | 2 | 1st | |||||
| 1966 | 1st | |||||||||
| 1971 | 2,675 | 90.65% | 1st | |||||||
| 1976 | 5,933 | 42.41% | 48.24 | 2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1981 | George Chambers(National party leader) | 7,503 | 42.66% | 0.25 | 2nd | |||||
| 1986 | 6,357 | 31.90% | 10.76 | 2nd | ||||||
| 1991 | Patrick Manning(National party leader) | 5,622 | 30.08% | 1.82 | 2nd | |||||
| 1995 | 6,949 | 36.80% | 6.72 | 2nd | ||||||
| 2000 | Orville London | 8,672 | 47.46% | 10.66 | 1 | Tie | ||||
| 2001 | 11,225 | 61.38% | 13.92 | 1 | 1st | |||||
| 2002 | 13,432 | 65.75% | 4.37 | 1st | ||||||
| 2007 | 12,534 | 55.26% | 10.49 | 1st | ||||||
| 2010 | 12,305 | 44.09% | 11.17 | 2 | 2nd | |||||
| 2015 | 18,560 | 74.34% | 30.25 | 2 | 1st | |||||
| 2020 | Tracy Davidson-Celestine | 16,402 | 60.76% | 13.58 | 1st | |||||
| Election | Leaders | Votes | Seats | Position | Control | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | ± | No. | ± | |||||
| 1959 | Eric Williams(National party leader) | 8,285 | 53.4 | 1st | |||||
| 1968[23] | 1 | 1st | |||||||
| 1971 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 | 1st | ||||
| 1977 | 6,326 | 52.6 | N/A | 4 | 1st | ||||
| Election[24] | Leaders | Votes | Seats | Position | Government | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | ± | No. | ± | |||||
| 1980 | Eric Williams(National party leader) | 7,097 | 44.4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1984 | George Chambers(National party leader) | 8,200 | 41.4 | 3.0 | 3 | 2nd | |||
| 1988 | Patrick Manning(National party leader) | 5,977 | 35.8 | 5.6 | 2nd | ||||
| 1992 | 6,555 | 36.7 | 0.9 | 2nd | |||||
| 1996 | 5,023 | 33.6 | 4.1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2001 | Orville London | 10,500 | 46.7 | 13.3 | 7 | 1st | |||
| 2005 | 12,137 | 58.4 | 11.7 | 3 | 1st | ||||
| 2009 | 12,311 | 51.2 | 7.2 | 3 | 1st | ||||
| 2013 | 19,976 | 61.2 | 10.0 | 4 | 1st | ||||
| 2017 | Kelvin Charles | 13,310 | 54.7 | 6.5 | 2 | 1st | |||
| January 2021 | Tracy Davidson-Celestine | 13,288 | 50.4 | 4.3 | 4 | 1st | |||
| December 2021 | 11,943* | 40.8* | 9.6* | 5 | 2nd | ||||
The leaders of the People's National Movement Tobago Council who additionally serve as deputy leaders of the party nationally have been as follows (any acting leaders indicated in italics):
Key:MaL: Majority LeaderMiL: Minority Leader
| Leader | Term | Position | Chief Secretary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orville London | 2001 | 3 July 2016 | MaL 2001–2017 | himself | |||
| 2 | Kelvin Charles | 3 July 2016 | 26 January 2020 | MaL 2017–2020 | himself | |||
| 3 | Tracy Davidson-Celestine | 26 January 2020(Elected) | 1 May 2022 | None | Kelvin Charles | |||
| Ancil Dennis | ||||||||
| Augustine | ||||||||
| 4 | Ancil Dennis | 1 May 2022(Elected) | None | Augustine | ||||
These are the positions currently held by the Executive of the PNM Tobago Council:[25]
| Position | Officeholder | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Political Leader | Ancil Dennis | ||
| Chairperson | Learie Paul | ||
| Vice-Chairperson | Charles Adams | ||
| Lady Vice-Chairperson | Kamaria London | ||
| General Secretary | Akissi London | ||
| Election Officer | Kurt Wilson | ||
| Public Relations Officer | Shomari Hector | ||
| Operations Officer | Ancil Thorne | ||
| Field Officer | Pete Gray | ||
| Labour Relations Officer | Kenneth Thomas | ||
| Welfare Officer | Latoya Horsford | ||
| Social Media Officer | Monique Perreira | ||
| Youth Officer | Quincy Trim | ||
| Assistant General Secretary | Keston Williams | ||
| Research Officer | Aisha McKnight | ||
| Education Officer | Gerald Brown | ||
| Treasurer | Maxslon Roberts | ||