With the general election in Anguilla constitutionally due in just under one year, a new Anguilla Democratic Party (ADP), comprising three members so far, has launched its campaign for the political leadership of the island while seeking additional qualified candidates.

L-R: Mr. Dennis Fleming, Mr. Leroy Rogers and Mr. Julian Harrigan

Leroy Rogers, former Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly, who contested the Valley North constituency over the years, some four times without winning the seat, and where the elected representative is Evans Rogers, is the new Chairman of the Party. The others with him are former Permanent Secretary, Julian Harrigan, the candidate for Valley South, where the incumbent is Victor Banks; and Dennis Fleming, a newcomer who will contest the West End/Long Bay seat, now held by the long-serving representative, Albert Hughes, who is not expected to be in the race.
The party, now being reorganised, made its debut on Monday evening, May 4, at the parking lot outside the Ronald Webster Park, a customary political gathering place in the centre of the island. It was a brief introductory meeting attended by a small, but attentive crowd, on an overcast and slightly rainy evening.
Mr. Rogers told his listeners that the ADP had been dormant for a while but a decision had been taken to resurrect it. For three election he was a member of the ADP, but entered as an independent candidate in 2005. He said this week’s meeting was to show the public that “the ADP is alive and well” and that he and others were beginning to rebuild the party. Mr. Rogers stressed that the party was founded by Ronald Webster and that in 1984, when Mr. Webster’s Government lost the election, the party decided to elect Mr. Banks as its leader and he served until 2004 when he left. “There has never been a meeting to dissolve the party, so we are just picking it up and continuing it right now,” he said.(Mr. Banks is now a member of the United Front Government.)
Mr. Rogers was trained in Business Administration and Accounting and served as Speaker of the House of Assembly for eleven years. He said that his party would not engage in smearing the name of other candidates and would deal exclusively with issues confronting the island.

Mr. Julian Harrigan said he was a founding member of the Anguilla Democratic Party and served as its first Executive Secretary. “I continued to serve the ADP and when Mr. Banks left the party, Roy and I, and a few others, decided that we would try to resurrect it,” he said. “We felt that Anguilla needed us so we decided to come back. We feel that we have people who are capable of providing leadership and holding ministries and being part of that party I believe I can contribute to the development of Anguilla.”
He served for 37 years as a Civil Servant, spending his early years as a Welfare Officer. He later held appointments as a Permanent Secretary in various Ministries and also had two short stints as Acting Deputy Governor. Mr. Harrigan outlined a number of plans which the ADP has for Anguilla if elected to office. These include re-building the island’s economy to be controlled by Anguillians; a properly-planned infrastructure development programme; the introduction of an unemployment Social Security benefit scheme for persons who have lost their jobs for a period of up to three months; the development of a yachting sector in conjunction with the local boat-racing sector; and the development of the island as a port for small cruise ships.
The other ADP candidate, Dennis Fleming, a retired computer technician, had been in England from 1965 and returned to Anguilla in 2007. He was an industrial manager in the UK having studied at college level such subjects as Planning, Industrial Law, Human Relations and Computer Science. He said he always had an interest in politics. “It had never left me and I discussed it with my folks in England over the years, and coming back and speaking to some of my relatives and friends, I looked at the way our country has gone and I am totally unhappy about it. So if I can make a change, I would like to contribute to that.”
Mr. Fleming told his listeners that there was a need for a change of government. “We are not looking for a change for change sake. The island has major problems and we would like to be a part of helping to solve those problems,” he added.

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