Newcomer to the political arena in Anguilla, Lawyer Cora Richardson-Hodge, has started a series of tent meetings in District 2, the East End/Sandy Hill constituency, which are allowing her to meet voters in the local communities at the grassroots level.

Lawyer Cora Richardson-Hodge

The first such meeting was held in The Copse, East End, on Sunday evening, June 28, attended by 50 or more persons. She was joined among other persons by Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, the current Elected Representative for the district, who will not be contesting next year’s election and who has endorsed her as the new candidate of the Anguilla United Front.

Mrs. Richardson-Hodge opened her meeting with statements on various subject areas of much interest to those in attendance, following which she joined in a lively interactive session.

L-R: Clement Ruan, Chief Minister Fleming and Lawyer Cora Richardson-Hodge

“It was very interesting,” the 35-year-old Barrister-at-Law, who has her own law firm, C.R. Hodge & Associates, established in November 2006, told The Anguillian. “We went through a list of topics including the community aspects of Education, Health, Youth, Sports and a number of ideas that I have for the district. We were very fortunate in that we had a number of persons in the grouping that were able to provide questions, concerns and issues especially related to education – what was being needed now, and what needed to have been done.”

She was particularly grateful to Chief Minister Fleming, Minister of Finance, Victor Banks and Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers, who made significant inputs during the interactive session.

Section of the listeners under the tent

“I think that the under the tent meeting was very successful,” the well-spoken political aspirant went on. “I believe that a number of persons were very happy and very pleased that their representative is coming down to them. My approach is more of a grassroots approach where we are saying: ‘Look, the community has to be informed. The Government plays a role yes, but we have to help you as well and we all have to help ourselves.’

“If we see a young person in the community who is going astray, it is our obligation to bring them back to the fold. Instead of talking at the young people, you talk to the young people. It was very interesting.”

Asked why she entered the political arena, Mrs. Richardson-Hodge had this to say: “The question was asked a couple of years ago as to whether or not I would be interested, but at the time I was in the process of opening my law firm, establishing my family and a number of other issues relating to my career. While I always had an interest in Anguilla’s politics, it has always been behind the scene.

“In recent times the issue came up again and I revisited my initial thoughts and I looked at where we were as a country and where we ought to go. There was also the fact that we needed a young person to come forward who had new thoughts and ideas which could be used for the benefit of the country.

“It was based on that that I spoke to my husband and other family members and having processed all of the factors, I decided to enter the political arena.”

A young person herself, Mrs. Richardson-Hodge attracted many young people to her meeting. Their interests featured prominently in her discourse and in the interactive session in general. Owen Mussington, a noted youth worker in the district, was among a number of other persons who offered many suggestions about how the energies and talent of the youngsters could be harnessed to the benefit of themselves and the wider community.

The interactive tent meetings will continue at Sandy Hill on Sunday, July 5, at Deep Waters on Sunday, July 12 and at Seafeathers; and on Sunday, July 19. All of the meetings start at 5.30 p.m. and the general public is invited to attend.

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