(Barbados Nation) With Prime Minister David Thompson gravely ill, Minister of Social Care Chris Sinckler has emerged as the people’s pick for successor.
Despite murmurs in some quarters about his political inexperience and lack of readiness for national leadership, the flamboyant and outspoken 42-year-old politician has captured the imagination of Barbadians.
The majority (35 per cent) now point to him as the clear alternative, in the likelihood Thompson is forced to step away from active duty for reasons of health.
Thompson’s deputy, Attorney General Freundel Stuart, 58, however maintains the edge on Sinckler in terms of garnering internal party support, and is therefore viewed as another strong contender for the throne, based on the findings of the latest Cadres Survey commissioned by the Sunday Sun.
But Stuart, who is known for his oratorical skills and measured speak, is trailing his political contemporary by over ten percentage points in the national poll standings.
The public has also marked Stuart very hard for his recent performance as Acting Prime Minister while Thompson was away, for which he received less than a passing grade (47 per cent) overall.
“Nationally and among the ranks of DLP [Democratic Labour Party] supporters, there is a clear understanding that the status quo places Prime Minister Thompson as leader and Freundel Stuart as his deputy,” said pollster Peter Wickham in his report on the findings of the new Cadres study.
