Grenada: Even the Longest Political Reigns Must End 

How a new generation broke decades of political dominance in a small Caribbean nation and went on to win an even stronger mandate.

Author: Balazs Lang

In Grenada, Dickon Mitchell, leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections held on November 5.


The highly popular prime minister can now begin his second term in office with an even stronger mandate than before. With voter turnout at 63.3%, the NDC secured 61% of the vote, winning 14 of the 15 seats in the House of Representatives. The opposition was left with just one constituency. Four years ago, Dickon Mitchell’s party had formed a government with only nine seats.

The Diaspora Vote: A Constitutional Battle on Election Eve

The election was also preceded by a legal controversy over the voting rights of Grenadians living abroad. Former Attorney General Cajeton Hood challenged aspects of the electoral process, raising questions about whether citizens who had lived overseas for extended periods, and no longer maintained their usual residence in Grenada, should remain eligible to vote. The dispute was particularly sensitive in a country with a substantial diaspora, primarily concentrated in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other Caribbean nations. Although Grenada does not permit overseas voting by post, online or at diplomatic missions, eligible citizens living abroad can return to the island to cast their ballots.

The controversy escalated when Hood also challenged the constitutional validity of the dissolution of Parliament and the subsequent election timetable. The legal proceedings raised uncertainty over whether the November 5 election could proceed as scheduled. On November 4, just one day before polling, High Court Justice Agnes Actie dismissed the challenge, ruling that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell had acted constitutionally in initiating the dissolution of Parliament. The court also indicated that challenges concerning the validity of an election should be pursued through the appropriate electoral petition procedures after polling, rather than used to prevent the vote from taking place.

The case highlighted a broader political dilemma facing Grenada: how to balance the democratic rights of its sizeable overseas population against concerns about the electoral influence of citizens who no longer reside permanently on the island. In a parliamentary system comprising just 15 constituencies, even relatively small numbers of returning diaspora voters could potentially influence individual results. However, no verified figures have been published establishing how many overseas Grenadians returned to vote in the 2026 election. While the court’s eleventh-hour decision allowed the election to proceed, the underlying debate over diaspora voting rights remains unresolved.

A Caribbean Lesson in Political Change

But why should this tiny Caribbean country be of interest to us?

Grenada’s political history offers some truly remarkable parallels. Between 1995 and 2008, Dickon’s party, the NDC, failed to defeat the New National Party (NNP) in three consecutive elections. The NNP was led for decades by Keith Mitchell.

Surpassing even Orbán, Keith Mitchell occupied Grenada’s throne for more than 22 years across two periods. He first governed from 1995 to 2008, then again from 2013 to 2022. His rule was characterised by strong political dominance, the prolonged marginalisation of the opposition and controversies surrounding his government.

Finally, in 2022, a young, charismatic lawyer, Dickon Mitchell, managed to break the long-standing politician’s grip on power. Now, after four years in government, he has achieved an even greater victory, this time against Keith Mitchell’s successor, Emmalin Pierre.

A New Generation and the Weight of History

Grenadians therefore had to wait patiently for a new-generation leader who, in some ways, resembles a combination of Barack Obama and Maurice Bishop.

The latter was Grenada’s legendary revolutionary leader, something of a Caribbean Che Guevara, who overthrew Eric Gairy’s regime in 1979 and steered the country towards socialism.

However, Bishop was executed by soldiers in 1983 during an internal power struggle within his own revolutionary movement. Six days later, the United States, which had been hostile to Bishop’s socialist government, launched a military invasion of Grenada.

The country’s history has been rather turbulent in other respects as well. Grenada was first a French and then a British colony, gaining independence only in 1974. Barely nine years later, it experienced the landing of American troops.

Even during his political rise in 2021, some of Dickon Mitchell’s supporters were already referring to him as the new Maurice Bishop. And not without reason: both politicians were able to appeal to Grenadians at a young age through exceptional oratory skills and the promise of national self-determination. Of course, there are significant differences between the two politicians in their understanding of democracy and their historical roles.

Dickon Mitchell promises better healthcare, improved social services, reduced youth unemployment and modernised infrastructure. But he also promises nothing less than to demand historical reparations from Britain.

He firmly believes that the former colonial power cannot simply brush aside centuries of slavery with a polite apology. The British must also accept financial responsibility for what they did to Grenada and the peoples of the Caribbean. Caribbean states are already examining the possibility of taking legal action.

And what is the lesson here?

In Grenada, a politician who had been in power for more than two decades was eventually replaced not by another political veteran, but by a representative of a new generation. Someone who, four years later, did not lose the voters’ trust but strengthened it even further.

It seems that even the most resilient political systems have an expiry date.

Sometimes, all it takes is patience until someone comes along who can convince the voters of that too.

Cover photo credit: AI-generated editorial illustration. Not an actual photograph.

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