The Anguilla United Front (AUF) won a landslide victory in the general elections conducted on February 25–26, 2025, and Cora Richardson-Hodge became the island nation’s first female premier.
In the Anguilla House of Assembly, Richardson-Hodge’s AUF gained eight of the eleven seats up for grabs, defeating the incumbent Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM), which was led by departing Premier Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster. The AUF is expected to become the new administration in the British Overseas Territory with a resounding majority.
Cora Richardson-Hodge, the party leader, Jose Vanterpool, Jeison Byran, Shellya Rogers, Kyle Hodge, Cordell Richardson, Cardigan Connor, and Evans McNiel are among the recently elected AUF members. Among the opposition will be Webster, parliamentary secretary Merrick Richardson, and former tourism minister Haydn Hughes.
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The elections were held using Anguilla’s electoral system, which uses a public vote to pick eleven of the House of Assembly’s thirteen members. Ex-officio members will occupy the final two seats. There was a great deal of voting in the area, which has 12,432 registered voters out of a total population of over 15,900.
Economic concerns, especially those surrounding the contentious Goods and Services Tax (GST), the administration of Anguilla’s extremely profitable “.ai” domain name, tourism, the cost of living, and growing worries about crime were some of the major factors that influenced the campaign. The idea to deny diaspora Anguillians the ability to vote was one controversial issue that surfaced early in the campaign. But after strong popular opposition, the plan was shelved, maintaining the established election system.
On Thursday, Richardson-Hodge will take the oath of office as premier. Her win also represents a major turning point for gender representation in Anguilla, as the territory now has a female Premier and a female Governor selected by the British, Julia Crouch.
With the AUF’s victory, Anguilla’s leadership and policy direction have changed, and many now expect Richardson-Hodge and her administration to handle urgent social and economic issues in the years to come.
