Barrow’s Leadership Bid Rejected; Panton Unveils New Vision as UDP Turmoil Continues

Despite the events following the 2025 general elections, turmoil continues to brew within the United Democratic Party (U.D.P). Former Area Representative “Shyne” Barrow stepped down as party leader after losing to Lee Mark Chang in Mesopotamia. However, just last week, Barrow claimed that he still has strong support, and his followers are calling for his return. He insists that until the court decides, he and the executive elected at the last convention will remain in place. In response, Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton has firmly rejected Barrow’s bid for leadership. At the U.D.P. press conference held earlier today, Panton laid out her new vision and path forward for the party, emphasizing a fresh direction and unity.

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“ The party is moving forward. The party, as I’ve said before, will have a National Party. Council will determine a date for a national convention to be held and will hold a legal convention that will set in motion a new mandate for its leadership team. We will not wait for decision to be made by Justice Hondora. For this reason only, whatever decision is taken by Justice Hondora, the leadership team still needs to be formally installed and still needs a fresh mandate. And so, we hope in the interest of leaving the media circus behind that we will be able to receive a judgment from Justice Hondora, which we have every intention  to respect, but the party  if you were in court, I know Channel Seven was in court that day, you would’ve heard the judge yourselves, that made a very strong recommendation that the party needs to sit down and sort itself out.”