2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election

General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, 10 August 2020,[2] to elect 41 members to the 12th Trinidad and Tobago Republican Parliament. It was the 14th election since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1962 and the 22nd national election in Trinidad and Tobago ever. Tracy Davidson-Celestine, political leader of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement (PNM) became the first woman to lead a Tobagonian political party with representation in the House of Representatives. Additionally, two of the three largest parties elected in 2015, the United National Congress (UNC) and the Congress of the People (COP), were led by women.[3]

2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election

10 August 2020
All 41 seats in the House of Representatives 21 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	58.04%[1] ( 8.8 pp)
Leader Keith Rowley Kamla Persad-Bissessar Party PNM UNC Leader since 26 May 2010 24 January 2010 Leader's seat Diego Martin West Siparia Last election 23 seats, 51.69% 17 seats, 39.61% Seats won 22 / 41 19 / 41 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 322,250 309,188 Percentage 49.08% 47.09% Swing 2.60 pp 7.48 pp
Map showing the seats won by the two parties that won seats in the election. Tobago's seats are shown on the left, Trinidad's seats on the right.
Prime Minister before election Keith Rowley PNM Subsequent Prime Minister Keith Rowley PNM

President Paula-Mae Weekes, with the advice of Prime Minister Keith Rowley, dissolved Parliament and issued the writs for the election on 3 July 2020.[4]

The first-term incumbent People's National Movement (PNM), led by incumbent Prime Minister Keith Rowley, won 22 seats to form a second five-year term majority government by defeating the opposition United National Congress, led by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Her latest in a series of losses at the polls which commenced with the January 2013 Tobago House of Assembly election with the wipeout of her People's Partnership-led administration from the Tobago House of Assembly due to a landslide victory by the Tobago Council of the PNM, losses at the 2013 Trinidadian local elections, St. Joseph and Chaguanas West bye-elections, loss in the 2015 Trinidad and Tobago general election, and subsequent losses in local government bye-elections[5][6] has placed pressure on her to offer her resignation before the 2020 United National Congress leadership election.[7] The UNC finished with 19 seats. The results in six constituencies were subject to recounts, causing the final election results to be delayed by a week.[8] This is the first parliamentary election in Trinidad and Tobago where the result was not finalized the day after the election.[9]

Voters elected the 41 members to the House of Representatives by first-past-the-post voting. Rowley and the new cabinet were sworn in on 19 August 2020.[10]

Electoral system

The 41 members of the House of Representatives are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. Registered voters must be 18 years and over, must reside in an electoral district/constituency for at least two months prior to the qualifying date, be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago or a Commonwealth citizen residing legally in Trinidad and Tobago for a period of at least one year.[11]

If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the Government, with its leader as Prime Minister. If the election results in no single party having a majority, then there is a hung parliament. In this case, the options for forming the Government are either a minority government or a coalition government. [12]

Parties and candidates

Political parties registered with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) can contest the general election as a party.[13]

The leader of the party commanding a majority of support in the House of Representatives is the person who is called on by the president to form a government as Prime Minister, while the leader of the largest party or coalition not in government becomes the Leader of the Opposition.[12]

Prior to the election, the People's National Movement, led by Prime Minister Keith Rowley formed a majority government. The largest opposition party was the United National Congress, led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The Congress of the People was the sole other party in Parliament, represented by a single MP.

The People's National Movement and the United National Congress have been the two biggest parties, in addition to having supplied every Prime Minister since 1991.[14]

On 14 July 2020, the leader of the Patriotic Front, Mickela Panday, announced that her party will no longer be contesting the 2020 elections due to lack of time to prepare for the August 2020 polls.[15]

The following registered parties are contesting the general election, the People's National Movement is the only party fielding all 41 seats (39 in Trinidad and two in Tobago), 14 parties are contesting seats in Trinidad only and four parties are contesting seats in Tobago only.[16]

Trinidad and Tobago

Party		Founded	Political position and ideology	Leader(s)	Leader since	Leader's seat	Last election		At dissolution	Contested seats
							% party vote	Seats
Major party not part of any coalition
	PNM	1955	Centre to centre-left Liberalism, Social liberalism, Nationalism	Keith Rowley	May 2010	Diego Martin West	51.69%	23 / 41 (56%)	23 / 41 (56%)	41 seats in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad only

Party		Founded	Political position and ideology	Leader(s)	Leader since	Leader's seat	Last election		At dissolution	Contested seats
							% party vote	Seats
Major party not part of any coalition
	UNC	1989	Centre-left Social democracy, Civic nationalism	Kamla Persad-Bissessar	January 2010	Siparia	39.60%	17 / 41 (41%)	17 / 41 (41%)	39 seats in Trinidad[17]
Better United Coalition
	COP	2006	Centre-left Reformism	Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan[18]	November 2017	None	6.02%	1 / 41 (2%)	1 / 41 (2%)	4 seats in Trinidad
	DPTT	2002		Steve Alvarez[19]	April 2002	None	–	–	0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad
	TTDF	2019		Nicholas Anthony Williams [20]	August 2019[21]	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad
Not part of any coalition
	PEP	2017	Centre-left to left-wing Progressivism, Environmentalism, Decentralisation	Phillip Alexander[22]	January 2017	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	28 seats in Trinidad
	THC	2015		Marcus Ramkissoon[23]	July 2015	None	0.02%	0 / 41 (0%)	0 / 41 (0%)	7 seats in Trinidad
	NNV	1994	Muslim interests, Social conservatism	Fuad Abu Bakr[20]	April 2010	None	0.12%	0 / 41 (0%)	0 / 41 (0%)	6 seats in Trinidad
	MSJ	2009	Left-wing Socialism, Labourism, Direct democracy	David Abdulah[24]	January 2012[25]	None	–	–	0 / 41 (0%)	5 seats in Trinidad
	MND	2019	Diego Martin regionalism	Garvin Nicholas [26]	September 2019	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	3 seats in Trinidad
	NCT	2013		Nalini Dial[27]	July 2013	None	0.05%	0 / 41 (0%)	0 / 41 (0%)	2 seats in Trinidad
	ILP	2013		Rekha Ramjit[28]	October 2015	None	0.70%	0 / 41 (0%)	0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad
	TNP	2017		Valmiki Ramsingh[29]	July 2017	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad
	UPP	2018	Right-wing Christian right, Social conservatism	Kenneth Munroe-Brown[30]	December 2018	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad
	Progressive	2019	Centre to centre-left Progressivism, Decentralization, Localism	Nikoli Edwards[31]	June 2019	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad
	NOW	2020		Kirk Waithe[32]	January 2020	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Trinidad

Tobago only

Party		Founded	Political position and ideology	Leader(s)	Leader since	Leader's seat	Last election		At dissolution	Contested seats
							% party vote	Seats
Not part of any coalition
	PDP	2016	Tobago regionalism	Watson Duke[33]	July 2016	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	2 seats in Tobago
	OTV	2019	Tobago regionalism	Hochoy Charles[33]	October 2019	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Tobago
	UTP	2020	Tobago regionalism	Nickocy Phillips[34]	July 2020	None	New party		0 / 41 (0%)	1 seat in Tobago

Ideology

Significant differences in the programs of the two major parties UNC and PNM cannot be identified. The UNC is traditionally more of an Indo-Trinidadian party, while Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians make up the majority of the PNM's base. In Trinidad, however, racial differences play a subordinate role, the dominant subject areas in the media are the stagnating economy and the high rate of violent crime; here both parties claim that they are better suited to combat them.[35]  In the closing stages of the election campaign, Prime Minister Rowley and citizens accused the UNC of using racist motives in its advertising campaign.[36]

Some parties only represent regional positions. This applies in particular to the parties PDP and OTV, who are running exclusively in Tobago and advocate for regional interests of the island[33] and the MND, which advocates the interests of the Diego Martin region.[26]

The announcement by the opposition UNC that, in the event of an election victory, would build a “dome” over Trinidad to protect against illegal immigrants, made the election campaign relaxed. Before the UNC made it clear that it meant a radar screen, users of social media picked up the topic and indulged in humorous allusions to domes in films and television series.[37]

Process

The organization of the election was subject to the state Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). There were no election observers. Prime Minister Rowley revealed after the election that he had invited observers from CARICOM and the Commonwealth of Nations, but they were unable to pay for the 14-day quarantine required of foreign visitors.[38]

Opinion research in the run-up to the election was carried out by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) and the management consultancy HHB Associates, among others. A NACTA poll shortly after the election date was announced, found that, as in most previous elections, only PNM and UNC would play a role.[39]  An HHB poll published July 25 in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian found the ruling PNM at 53% and the UNC at 44%.[40] A NACTA poll from July 25, however, saw the UNC one percentage point ahead.[41]  At this point in time, the tendency, known from previous elections, was that Trinidadians with African roots tend to choose the PNM and Trinidadians with Indian roots rather the UNC.

The resignation of former deputy PNM chairwoman Nafeesa Mohammed on July 28, who accused the PNM leadership of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence, caused a media stir.[42]  The Leader of the Opposition, former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was threatened with death during the election campaign.[43] Minor parties and bodies called on the President to postpone the election in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was also rampant in Trinidad, but their requests were denied.[44] A UNC supporter was stabbed on the sidelines of a UNC election campaign on the Saturday before the election.[45]

The polling stations closed at 6:00 p.m. on election Monday.[46]

Marginal seats

The following lists identify and rank seats by the margin by which the party's candidate finished behind the winning candidate in the 2015 election.

For information purposes only, seats that have changed hands through subsequent by elections have been noted. Seats whose members have changed party allegiance are ignored.

  = appears in two lists

Marginal seats by party (with winning parties and margins from the 2015 Trinidad and Tobago general election)

People's National Movement				People's Partnership (UNC—COP—TOP)
Marginal
1		Barataria/San Juan	3.18%	1		Moruga/Tableland	2.53%
2		Chaguanas East	7.95%	2		St. Joseph	8.33%
3		Pointe-à-Pierre	8.39%	3		La Horquetta/Talparo	15.56%
4		Mayaro	14.05%	4		Tunapuna	19.13%
5		Cumuto/Manzanilla	15.95%	5		Toco/Sangre Grande	19.20%
6		Fyzabad	18.92%	6		San Fernando West	19.39%
7		Caroni Central	26.11%	7		Point Fortin	20.94%
8		Tabaquite	31.12%	8		Lopinot/Bon Air West	28.10%
9		St. Augustine	33.57%	9		La Brea	33.45%
10		Couva North	34.17%	10		D'Abadie/O'Meara	34.20%
11		Princes Town	35.60%	11		San Fernando East	37.33%
12		Couva South	38.83%	12		Arima	40.12%
13		Caroni East	44.79%	13		Diego Martin North/East	41.40%
14		Oropouche West	48.70%	14		Diego Martin West	55.32%
15		Siparia	51.60%	15		St. Ann's East	56.55%
16		Oropouche East	60.02%	16		Diego Martin Central	59.77%
17		Naparima	65.53%	17		Port of Spain South	60.81%
18		Chaguanas West	76.14%	18		Tobago East	60.88%
Safe				19		Arouca/Maloney	63.10%
				20		Port of Spain North/St. Ann's West	65.62%
				21		Tobago West	73.48%
				22		Laventille East/Morvant	76.84%
				23		Laventille West	81.07%
				Safe
				Independent (Watson Duke)
				1		Tobago East	53.78%
				Safe
				Tobago Forwards
				1		Tobago West	67.24%
				Safe
Source: Parliamentary Elections, 2015 Final Results – Candidates Vote Count

Members of Parliament not standing for re-election

Trinidad

Retiring incumbent			Electoral District	Term in office	Date announced
	Surujrattan Rambachan	UNC	Tabaquite	2010–2020	14 August 2019[47]
	Fuad Khan	UNC	Barataria/San Juan	1995–2007; 2010–2020	9 November 2019[48]
	Ganga Singh	UNC	Chaguanas West	1995–2007 (Caroni East); 2015–2020	8 March 2020[49]
	Maxie Cuffie	PNM	La Horquetta/Talparo	2015–2020	13 May 2020[50]
	Tim Gopeesingh	UNC	Caroni East	2007–2020	4 June 2020[51]

Candidates by constituency

Candidate nominations for the election were finalized on Nomination Day (July 17, 2020). The full candidate list is presented below,[16] along with the incumbent candidates before the election.[52] Non-minister MPs who are not standing for re-election are marked (†)[53] Government ministers are in bold, and party leaders are in italics.

Trinidad

Electoral District	Candidates								Incumbent
	PNM		UNC		PEP		Other
Arima		Pennelope Beckles-Robinson		Flora Singh		Sharon Hernandez		Nalini Dial (NCT)		Anthony Garcia
Arouca/Maloney		Camille Robinson-Regis		Cherry-Ann David		Kelvin Wayne				Camille Robinson-Regis
Barataria/San Juan		Jason 'JW' Williams		Saddam Hosein		Albertha Purdeen				† Fuad Khan
Caroni Central		Reyad Ali		Arnold Ram		Lorena Lucien				Bhoendradatt Tewarie
Caroni East		Sharon Archie		Rishi Seecharran		Dave Babwah				† Tim Gopeesingh
Chaguanas East		Clarence Rambharat		Vandana Mohit		Matthew Gibbs		Shiraz Khan (Ind.)		Fazal Karim
Chaguanas West		Rackeal Bissoon		Dinesh Rambally				Rahman Ali (NNV)		† Ganga Singh
Couva North		Sharda Satram		Ravi Ratiram		Rohanie Debideen		Joel Ramdhanie (COP/Better United)		Ramona Ramdial
Couva South		Rajendra Rampersad		Rudranath Indarsingh		Gerard Whyms		Linnell Doolan (THC)		Rudranath Indarsingh
Cumuto/Manzanilla		Ronney Lochan		Rai Ragbir		Anthony Henry		Christopher Mathura (THC)		Christine Newallo-Hosein
D'Abadie/O'Meara		Lisa Morris-Julian		Maurice Hoyte		Hadassah Charles-McLeod		Peter Amann (NCT)		Ancil Antoine
Diego Martin Central		Symon De Nobrega		John Ricardo Laquis		Felicia Holder		Ashton Francis (NNV) Garvin Nicholas (MND) Renee St Rose (MSJ)		Darryl Smith
Diego Martin North/East		Colm Imbert		Eli Zakour		Phillip Edward Alexander		Myron Bruce (MND) Lonsdale Williams (COP/Better United)		Colm Imbert
Diego Martin West		Keith Rowley		Marsha Riley-Walker				Zafir David (THC) Dexter Nicholls (MND)		Keith Rowley
Fyzabad		Solange De Souza		Lackram Bodoe		Alice Narine		Radhaka Gualbance (MSJ)		Lackram Bodoe
La Brea		Stephen McClatchie		Victor Roberts		Rondoll Glasgow		Callum Marshall (NNV)		Nicole Olivierre
La Horquetta/Talparo		Foster Cummings		Jearlean John		Benet Thomas				†Maxie Cuffie
Laventille East/Morvant		Adrian Leonce		Kareem Baird		Christopher Roberts		Umar Khan (NNV)		Adrian Leonce
Laventille West		Fitzgerald Hinds		Rodney Stowe		Natalia Moore		Sandra Emmanuel (NNV) Kurt Sinnette (COP/Better United) Kirk Waithe (NOW)		Fitzgerald Hinds
Lopinot/Bon Air West		Marvin Gonzales		Prakash Williams		Dominique Lopez		Jack Warner (ILP)		Cherrie Ann Crichlow-Cockburn
Mayaro		Bunny Mahabirsingh		Rushton Paray		Sterling Lee Ha				Rushton Paray
Moruga/Tableland		Winston 'Gypsy' Peters		Michelle Benjamin				Steve Alvarez (DPTT/Better United) Larry Sanchar (THC) Thomas Sotillio (Ind.)		Lovell Francis
Naparima		Randy Sinanan		Rodney Charles						Rodney Charles
Oropouche East		Clifford Rambharose		Roodal Moonilal						Roodal Moonilal
Oropouche West		Lea Ramoutar		Davendranath Tancoo		Sasha Ali				Vidia Gayadeen-Goopeesingh
Point Fortin		Kennedy Richards Jr.		Taharqa Obika		Kenesha Ramsoondar		Ernesto Kesar (MSJ) Nicholas Anthony Williams (TTDF)		Edmund Dillon
Pointe-à-Pierre		Daniel Dookie		David Lee		Marvyn Howard		David Abdulah (MSJ)		David Lee
Port of Spain North/St. Ann's West		Stuart Young		Darren Garner		Limma Mc Leod		Kenneth Munroe-Brown (UPP)		Stuart Young
Port of Spain South		Keith Scotland		Curtis Orr		Gail Castanada		Fuad Abu Bakr (NNV)		Marlene McDonald
Princes Town		Sharon Baboolal		Barry Padarath		Kim Young Low				Barry Padarath
San Fernando East		Brian Manning		Monifa Andrews						Randall Mitchell
San Fernando West		Faris Al-Rawi		Sean Sobers		Benison Jagessar		Nikoli Edwards (Progressive) Valmiki Ramsingh (TNP)		Faris Al-Rawi
Siparia		Rebecca Dipnarine		Kamla Persad-Bissessar						Kamla Persad-Bissessar
St. Ann's East		Nyan Gadsby-Dolly		Kenya Charles		Akil Camps				Nyan Gadsby-Dolly
St. Augustine		Renuka Sagramsingh-Sookal		Khadijah Ameen		Satesh Ramsaran		Michlin Hosein-Phelps (THC) Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan (COP/Better United)		Prakash Ramadhar
St. Joseph		Terrence Deyalsingh		Ahloy Hunt				Errol Fabien (Ind./Better United) [20] Joel Williams (THC)		Terrence Deyalsingh
Tabaquite		Michael Seales		Anita Haynes		Carl Henry				† Surujrattan Rambachan
Toco/Sangre Grande		Roger Munroe		Nabila Greene		Kevon Hernandez				Glenda Jennings-Smith
Tunapuna		Esmond Forde		David Nakhid		Maurice Downes		Marcus Ramkissoon (THC)		Esmond Forde

Tobago

Electoral District	Candidates										Incumbent
	PNM		PDP		OTV		UTP		Other
Tobago East		Ayanna Webster-Roy		Watson Duke		Juliana Henry-King						Ayanna Webster-Roy
Tobago West		Shamfa Cudjoe		Tashia Grace Burris				Nickocy Phillips		Ricardo Phillip (Ind.)		Shamfa Cudjoe

Campaign slogans and songs

Party		Slogan	Song
	PNM	"The right choice."[54][55]	Official: PNM ft Peter C Lewis x I Sasha x Rishi Singh and Super Blue - The RIGHT CHOICE Rikki Jai - PNM AGAIN Trinidad Ghost - PNM BALISIER STEPPERS DANCE (Appearance by Mouttxt) Eddie Charles - We Go Beat Them (PNM) Radford Etienne - PNM Election Song Peter C Lewis - Getting It Done
	UNC	"Now is the time."[56]	Official: Squeezy Rankin, Brian Mohan - The Time is Now Trinidad Ghost - Kamla Winning!, No Stressing! Boy Boy - The Formula - Official Video (UNC AD) Prince Swanny - Unc (Vote 4 UNC) Gi - Now Is The Time That We Voting (UNC Official Music Video (2020)) UNC WORKNATION with Squeezy Rankin - Talk Done VOTE FOR UNC - Hurricane Hemlatha Dindial Sunil Ramsundar - Vote UNC (2020 Political Chutney Soca Music) Aaron Jewan Singh - Kamla We Want You Back (2020 Chutney Soca) Rowley Have to Go - Danny Popo Nermal “Massive” Gosein . 4 King PNM
	COP	"Making the quantum leap."[57]
	DPTT	"The way forward for Trinidad and Tobago."[58]
	TTDF	"People first."[21]
	PEP	"Time for real change."[59]
	THC	"Good governance is at your fingertips."[60]
	NNV	"Believe in better."[61]
	MSJ	"Create a balance."[24]
	MND	"We are from Diego Martin, for Diego Martin."[62]
	NCT	"Think before you ink."[27]
	ILP	"Performance, Representation, Action" [63]
	TNP	"Change not exchange!"[29]
	UPP
	Progressive	"Progressive 2020. The new normal."[64]	Progressive Party - De Guiding Flame (2020)
	NOW	"Time is now."[65]
	PDP	"People before politics."[66]
	OTV	“Tobago must play as a team or lose by the fault.”[33]
	UTP

Opinion polls

The North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) based in New York (led by political analyst Vishnu Bisram), pollster Nigel Henry's Solution by Simulation and pollster Louis Bertrand's H.H.B (H.H.B) & Associates have commissioned opinion polling for the next general election sampling the electorates' opinions.

Seat projections

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	COP	Other	Legislative majority
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	22	19	0	0	3
3 Jul 2020		Prime Minister Keith Rowley announces that the election will take place on 10 August 2020 and parliament is dissolved.
1 Jun 2020		COVID-19 lockdown ends
6 May 2020		Ancil Dennis becomes Chief Secretary of Tobago[67][68]
14 Apr 2020		COP, PPM, ⁠DPTT and ⁠TTDF agree to form a coalition[69]
30 Mar 2020		Trinidad and Tobago commences a nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic
12 Mar 2020		The first case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Trinidad and Tobago, pre-campaigning partially suspended on 13 March[70][71]
26 Jan 2020		2020 Tobago Council of the PNM election; Tracy Davidson-Celestine is elected leader
2 Dec 2019		PNM wins more districts, ties in number of corporations won and loses the popular vote to the UNC in the 2019 Trinidadian local elections
1 Oct 2019		The 2019 budget is delivered
Aug 2019	NACTA/Newday	–	23	18	0	0	5
Apr 2019	NACTA/Newsday	–	26	15	0	0	11
Mar 2019	NACTA/Newsday	540	25	16	0	0	9
1 Oct 2018		The 2018 budget is delivered
Sep 2018	NACTA/Newsday	–	23	18	0	0	5
16 July 2018		Barataria and Belmont East Local Government By-Elections
19 Jan 2018		2018 Trinidad and Tobago presidential election; Paula-Mae Weekes is elected president
19 Nov 2017		Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan is elected leader of the COP[18][72][73][74]
23 Jan 2017		The Tobago Council of the PNM wins the 2017 Tobago House of Assembly election; Kelvin Charles becomes Chief Secretary of Tobago
7 Oct 2017		The 2017 budget is delivered
28 Nov 2016		PNM wins the 2016 Trinidadian local elections but loses the popular vote to the UNC
30 Sep 2016		The 2016 budget is delivered
10 Jul 2016		Anirudh Mahabir is elected leader of the COP[75][76]
3 Jul 2016		Kelvin Charles is elected leader of the Tobago Council of the PNM[77]
15 Dec 2015		The People's Partnership splits up
7 Dec 2015		PNM wins the Auzonville/Tunapuna and Malabar South Local Government By-Elections
28 Sep 2015		The 2015 budget is delivered
9 Sep 2015		Keith Rowley is sworn in as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	23	17	1	0	5

Individual polls

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	PDP	PEP	COP	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	49.1	47.1	1.6	0.9	0.1	1.3	1.99
July 24-31 2020	SBS/Express	473	43	38	1	1	–	1	5
July 25 2020	NACTA/Newsday	–	44	45	–	–	–	–	1
July 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	600	35	29	–	–	0	2	6
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	51.7	39.6	–	–	6.0	3.7	12.1

Tobago East

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	PDP	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	54.35	44.74	0.91	9.61
July 2020	NACTA/Newsday	(380)	47	42	11	5
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	69.48	–	30.52	53.78

Tobago West

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	PDP	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	66.81	32.42	0.77	34.39
July 2020	NACTA/Newsday	(380)	48	40	12	9
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	79.20	–	20.8	67.24

Moruga/Tableland

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	35.92	52.34	11.74	16.42
July 25 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	200	34	23	43	11
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	51.15	48.62	0.23	2.53

St. Joseph

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	51.42	46.96	1.62	4.46
July 25 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	200	40	31	29	9
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	53.77	45.44	0.79	8.33

San Fernando West

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	54.51	42.87	2.62	11.64
July 25 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	–	49	29	22	20
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	59.24	39.85	0.91	19.39

Tunapuna

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	54.63	43.51	1.86	11.12
July 25 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	–	39	23	38	16
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	59.42	40.29	0.29	19.13

Toco/Sangre Grande

Date[nb 1]	Pollster	Sample size	PNM	UNC	Other	Lead
10 Aug 2020	2020 general election	–	58.66	40.10	1.24	18.23
July 25 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	–	32	19	49	13
7 Sep 2015	2015 general election	–	59.04	39.84	0.91	19.20

Satisfaction

Date[nb 1]	Firm	Interview Mode	Sample size
				Rowley (PNM)			Persad-Bissessar (UNC)
				Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Never heard of	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Never heard of
July 2020	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	Face-to-face	600	57%	43%	0%	53%	44%	3%
31 May 2020	NACTA/Newsday	n/a	n/a	53%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
March 2020	NACTA/Newsday	n/a	n/a	46%	n/a	n/a	55%	n/a	n/a
1–7 September 2019	SBS/Express	Telephone	n/a	50%	38%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
8 March 2019	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	540	40%	47%	n/a	42%	44%	n/a
24 September 2017	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	390	40%	n/a	n/a	42%	n/a	n/a
1–3 September 2017	H.H.B. & Associates/Guardian Media	Telephone	301	32%	n/a	n/a	43%	38%	n/a
July 2017	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	410	41%	n/a	n/a	43%	n/a	n/a
June 2017	NACTA/Newsday	Face-to-face	380	42%	n/a	n/a	43%	n/a	n/a
30 August – 5 September 2016	SBS/Express	Telephone	601	51%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
^ Remainder were "undecided".

Preferred Prime Minister

Date[nb 1]	Firm	Interview Mode	Sample size			Lead
				Rowley (PNM)	Persad-Bissessar (UNC)
July 2020	H.H.B. & Associates	Face-to-face	600	39%	34%	5%
March 2020	NACTA	n/a	n/a	43%	45%	2%
^ Remainder were "undecided".

Government direction

Date[nb 1]	Polling organisation	Interview Mode	Sample size	Right direction	Wrong direction	Lead
4 August 2020	SBS/Express	Telephone	473	47	41	6
24 September 2017	NACTA	Face-to-face	390	n/a	89	n/a
1–3 September 2017	H.H.B. & Associates	Telephone	301	n/a	83	n/a
July 2017	NACTA	Face-to-face	410	n/a	85	n/a
June 2017	NACTA	Face-to-face	380	n/a	83	n/a

Results

At 10:30 pm on Election Day, Prime Minister Keith Rowley declared his party the winner of the election with 22 seats. UNC leader Persad-Bissessar declared wins in 19 seats, taking the Moruga/Tableland seat from the PNM and the St. Augustine seat from the COP. She disagreed with Rowley's victory declaration and objected to the long delays at polling stations.[78]

In total, six seats won by the PNM were disputed: the UNC requested recounts for five constituencies in Trinidad (San Fernando West, St Joseph, Tunapuna, Toco-Sangre Grande and La Horquetta/Talparo),[79] while the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) requested a recount in Tobago East.[80] The EBC took one week to conduct the recounts, observing only minor changes from the preliminary vote counts: the largest change was an increase of 103 votes for the UNC in San Fernando West. The counts for the other districts differed by ten votes or fewer.[8] Rowley and the new PNM cabinet were then sworn in by President Paula-Mae Weekes on the following day, August 19. The ceremony was held at President's House.[10]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's National Movement	322,250	49.08	–2.60	22	–1
	United National Congress	309,188	47.09	+7.48	19	+2
	Progressive Democratic Patriots	10,367	1.58	New	0	New
	Progressive Empowerment Party	5,933	0.90	New	0	New
	Independent Liberal Party	3,817	0.58	–0.12	0	0
	Movement for Social Justice	1,223	0.19	New	0	New
	Movement for National Development	1,039	0.16	New	0	New
	COP–DPTT–TTDF	524	0.08	–5.93	0	–1
	New National Vision	493	0.08	–0.04	0	0
	Trinidad Humanity Campaign	366	0.06	+0.04	0	0
	National Organisation of We the People	310	0.05	New	0	New
	National Coalition for Transformation	234	0.04	–0.01	0	0
	Progressive Party	211	0.03	New	0	New
	One Tobago Voice	80	0.01	New	0	New
	Unrepresented Peoples Party	73	0.01	New	0	New
	Unity of the People	40	0.01	New	0	New
	The National Party	23	0.00	New	0	New
	Independents	351	0.05	–0.27	0	0
Total		656,522	100.00	–	41	0
Valid votes		656,522	99.73
Invalid/blank votes		1,775	0.27
Total votes		658,297	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,134,135	58.04
Source: EBCTT, IPU

See also

• 2020 United National Congress leadership election
• 2020 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election

Footnotes

1. These are the survey dates of the poll, or if the survey dates are not stated, the date the poll was released.

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External links

• Elections And Boundaries Commission
• 2020 General Elections CNC3
• 2020 General Eleection Trinidad Guardian
• Trinidad and Tobago 2020 Election Centre Live Results Trinidad Express