A historical journey through the marginal constituencies to examine the patterns of voting over the decades is useful for a broad perspective of local politics.
Barataria/San Juan
Barataria/San Juan was originally called San Juan in 1956 when it was first won by Robert Edward Wallace for the PNM. It emerged in 1961 as a constituency simply named "Barataria" secured by Kamaluddin Mohammed for the PNM, with 7,513 votes to the DLP's JA R Kelly's 5,835. In 1966, the seat would be broken up into Barataria (again fought by Kamaluddin Mohammed for the PNM), San Juan East and San Juan West, fought for the PNM by Lloyd Christopher Phillips and Shamshuddin Mohammed, respectively. All three seats were won by the PNM. In 1971, Barataria disappeared but San Juan East and San Juan West remained and were fought and won by the same PNM candidates. Barataria re-emerged as a constituency in 1976 and San Juan East and West merged into San Juan. Both seats were won by the PNM. Kamaluddin Mohammed again won the seat in 1981, even though the ONR emerged as a third party, splitting the votes. The current name, Barataria/San Juan, was born in 1986 when, like 32 others, the seat was won by the NAR coalition. Kenneth Butcher won that seat. In 1991, Dr Linda Baboolal wrested the seat for the PNM, but from 1995 through the 2000, 2001 and 2002 elections, Dr Fuad Khan won for the UNC. In 2007, the PNM's Joseph Ross took the seat from the UNC due to the COP splitting the votes. The combined UNC/COP votes of 2007 showed 2,096 more than the PNM.
Mayaro
The seat currently known as Mayaro, emerged as Ortoire-Mayaro in 1961 and was consistently held by the PNM's Victor Lionel Campbell, through the 1961,1966, and 1976 elections. In 1981, Leon Prevatt retained the seat for the PNM, but Selwyn Richardson grabbed it for the NAR in the 33-3 sweep of 1986. The PNM's Keith Sobion again won it for the PNM in 1991, but lost it to the UNC's Razak Ali in 1995.
Winston Gypsy Peters won the seat twice for the UNC, in 2000 and 2001, but Franklin Khan brought it back to the PNM in 2002. Peters returned in 2007 and won the seat even with the COP splitting the votes.
Pointe-a-Pierre
Pointe-a-Pierre has also been vacillating between the parties over time. In 1956, the seat was won by Ashford Sinanan for the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and by the Democratic Labour Party's (DLP) Peter Farquhar in 1961. Lilias Wight retained the seat for the DLP in 1966, but the No Vote Campaign of 1971 gave the seat to the PNM, which it retained in 1976 and 1981 because of the ONR's splitting of the votes. The NAR's Oswald Hemlee grabbed it from the PNM in 1986, but the PNM's Cyril Rajaram won in 1991. Throughout the 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2002 elections, the seat was held by the UNC's Dhanraj Singh, William Chaitan and Gillian Lucky, respectively. The COP splitting of the votes in 2007 resulted in the PNM's Christine Kangaloo winning the seat. But the combined UNC/COP votes amount to a coalition advantage of 2,449 votes in 2010.
St Joseph
In 1956, Kamaluddin Mohammed won St Joseph for the PNM. The party retained the seat in 1961, 1966, 1971 and 1976 until it was wrested by the NAR's Carson Charles in 1986. The seat returned to the PNM under Augustus Ramrekersingh in 1991, but was controlled by the UNC under Mervin Assam in 1995, Carlos John in 2000 and 2001 and Gerald Yetming in 2002. The COP splitting of the votes in 2007 resulted in the PNM's Kennedy Swaratsingh winning the seat against the UNC's Carson Charles and the COP's Gillian Lucky. The combined UNC/COP votes in 2007 outnumbered that of the PNM by 1,124.
San Fernando West
San Fernando West was held by the PNM's Winston Mahabir in 1956, Saied Mohammed in 1961, and Errol Mahabir in 1966, 1976 and 1981, until it was wrested by the NAR's Anselm St George in 1986. The seat returned to the PNM under Ralph Maraj in 1991 and Barendra Sinanan in 1995. But in 2000 and 2001, it was taken by Sadiq Baksh for the UNC. The PNM's Diane Seukeran secured it again in 2002. The results of the 2007 election showed a tight race with the combined UNC and COP votes still resulting in a PNM victory by 114 votes.
Tunapuna
Tunapuna has always been closely contested. It was won by the PNM's Learie Constantine in 1956 and continued to be won by the PNM through the 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976 and 1981 elections. After the NAR grabbed it in 1986, it returned to the PNM under Edward Hart in 1991 and 1995. In 2000, the UNC's Mervyn Assam won the seat by a tight margin, the first time a single party was able to wrest it from the PNM. But it returned return to the PNM in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
The combined UNC and COP votes in 2007 still resulted in a PNM victory by 641 votes.
Tobago East
Tobago East has an interesting history of voting against the PNM whenever there is a viable alternative. ANR Robinson won the seat for the PNM in 1961 and 1966, but he pulled out of the PNM to lead the No Vote campaign in 1971. Thereafter, Robinson formed his own party, the Democratic Action Congress (DAC), and won Tobago East in 1976. In 1981, Pamela Nicholson won the seat again for the DAC. With Robinson as leader of the NAR and candidate for Tobago East, the seat was won by about 3000 votes more than the PNM in 1986. The NAR continued to win the seat in 1991, 1995 and 2000, but lost it to the PNM in 2001, 2002 and 2007. The TUF/DAC alliance combined with the COP votes led to a PNM victory by 976 votes in 2007.
The new seats
Lopinot Bon/Air, Chaguanas East and Moruga/Tableland (formerly Princes Town South) are all new seats created in 2007 with the increase in constituencies from 36 to 41.
