Team Unity

Team Unity, stylised as TEAM UNITY or Team UNITY, was a political alliance of three political parties in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It formed the government after winning the 2015 and 2020 elections. In 2022, major disagreements by CCM and PAM's leaders, Mark Brantley and Shawn Richards, with Prime Minister and PLP leader Timothy Harris, resulted in the government collapsing and Team Unity being dissolved ahead of a snap general election.

Team Unity was created in September 2013 by three political parties in Saint Kitts and Nevis: the newly founded People's Labour Party (PLP), a party founded by senior MPs who had split from the ruling SKN Labour Party; the People's Action Movement (PAM); and the Nevis-based Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM).^[2][3][4] PLP leader Timothy Harris was announced as leader of the alliance,^[5] with PAM leader Shawn Richards and senior CCM politician Mark Brantley becoming its deputy leaders.^[3]

At the 2015 election, the three parties ran on a joint platform and did not stand candidates against each other, instead encouraging voters to tactically vote for their Team Unity-backed candidate in each constituency in order to oust the Labour government and bring in a Team Unity administration. This strategy worked, with the Team Unity alliance successfully winning seven out of eleven constituencies and a combined 49.9% of the vote,^[6][7] bringing a nearly 20 year long Labour government under Denzil Douglas to an end. Shortly after the election, Team Unity officially formed the government, with PLP leader Timothy Harris becoming Prime Minister,^[8][9] and various cabinet positions going to Team Unity MPs, including PAM leader Shawn Richards as Deputy Prime Minister and CCM's Mark Brantley as foreign minister.^[10][11]

At the 2020 general election, Team Unity further increased its representation to nine out of eleven seats and won a combined 55% of the vote. Harris again served as Prime Minister and Team Unity parties were assigned various cabinet roles once again.

In March and April 2022, various disagreements between Richards and Brantley with Harris culminated in an attempted vote of no confidence in Harris as Prime Minister. In early May, this request for a no confidence vote was denied by the Governor-General and Harris subsequently sacked six cabinet ministers, including Richards and Brantley, and dissolved parliament and called a snap election.^[3] In the 2022 Saint Kitts and Nevis snap election, the PLP ran candidates against PAM for the first time. However, PAM and CCM maintained a close partnership and formed a new alliance called One Movement, and released a joint manifesto.^[12]

The election saw all of the parties that had previously formed Team Unity lose the election, with Labour winning a majority and forming government.^[13]

Below is a table of Team Unity's members and their representation just before the dissolution of the alliance:

The alliance between the parties meant that they did not stand candidates against each other in general elections. The CCM only contest elections in Nevis anyway, with the other two parties therefore only contesting the St. Kitts constituencies.

Election year	# of votes	% of vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Govt?
2015	15,126	49.9	7 / 11	3	Government
2020	15,308	54.86	9 / 11	2	Government