Browne wins fourth term as Antigua voters back economy, visas
Browne swept to a fourth term with 15 of 17 seats, after voters weighed economic management against U.S. visa curbs that hit families and businesses.
Gaston Browne turned a campaign shaped by jobs, living costs and U.S. visa restrictions into a landslide, winning a fourth consecutive term as Antigua and Barbuda’s Labour Party captured 15 of the 17 seats in parliament.
Preliminary official results showed a dramatic reversal from the party’s narrow 9-7 majority after the January 18, 2023 election. The vote, held on April 30, 2026, had been called nearly two years before the constitutional deadline, a gamble Browne framed as a test of steady leadership in a volatile global economy.
The biggest external issue in the race was Washington’s move on visas. The U.S. Department of State said it paused all immigrant visa issuances to nationals of Antigua and Barbuda effective January 21, 2026, while travel to the United States on tourist visas was not affected and existing valid visas were not revoked. Antigua-based reporting said a partial suspension of certain U.S. visa categories began on January 1, 2026 under Presidential Proclamation 10998. For a country where many residents travel regularly to the United States for work, study and business, the restriction became a direct political issue at the ballot box.
U.S. officials also raised concerns about Antigua and Barbuda’s citizenship-by-investment program, arguing that criminals could exploit it to gain entry to the United States. That put diplomatic ties with Washington at the center of the campaign, alongside Browne’s argument that economic management and continuity mattered more than a change in leadership. The result suggests many voters accepted that calculation, backing the incumbent even as the visa dispute clouded one of the country’s most important external relationships.
After the win, Browne told supporters he would “work harder” and keep pushing to improve living standards while uniting the country. “I give you a commitment that I will work harder… that I will do all in my power to continue to work unrelentingly to advance the living standards of the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said. He also said education, jobs and business opportunities would be open to all who were ready to seize them, and urged the country to aim to become “one of the most productive small island states globally.”
The opposition was left badly diminished. Trevor Walker kept the Barbuda parliamentary seat for the Barbuda People’s Movement, while preliminary reporting indicated the United Progressive Party won only one seat. For Browne, the victory brings a clear mandate; for Antigua and Barbuda, the next test is whether his government can ease the visa dispute, keep the economy moving and turn political support into tangible gains at home.
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