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One of the the greatest sports stories ever told is the one about the Comeback Kid. The fall from grace followed by the rise to glory. The hero down in the count or left in the dust, making the come-from-behind move to lead his team to victory in the 4^th Quarter or will himself to glory in the last round or hits a ball for 6 in the final ball in the final over to win the World Cup .

Such a story might very well eventually apply to former Leader of the St.Kitts main opposition party the People’s Action Movement Attorney Lindsay Grant.

Grant was named Leader of the the People’s Action Movement  in 2001. Taking the reigns from the country’s most revered leader and first Prime Mnister the Rt. Hon Dr Sir Kennedy Simmonds. By all accounts the party was at its lowest ebb having lost all 8 seats it contested the year before . Grant took over a seriously wounded Opposition party at a time when persons were literally running and hiding from having to take the responsibility of leading a party which was seemingly decimated by the powerful Dr Denzil Douglas led Labour Party.

The Harvard Trained Lawyer took the challenge and offered himself up for leadership. He was named leader and quickly began to rebuild a party in need of serious re-construction. The rebuilding process was very slow but by the 2004 elections there began some signs of construction of a newly refurbished party. The Party gained one seat and a considerable amount of Voters but still fell way short of the ruling labour party. Grant himself lost his bid to unseat his opponent . But it was an open secret that he was cheated out of his rightful spot as representative through considerable fraud and illegal registration .

The fortunes of the party reached it’s highest ebb since losing office in the 2010 elections. Again the party improved considerable in terms of number of overall votes as well as gaining one seat. And again Grant lost his bid to capture his own seat. But that elections was punctuated by the now infamous Marriott Video . The obviously highly edited video seemingly shows Grant discussing some sort of transaction with a man posing as a foreign investor. The tape was done in subtitles with the voices and what was said being hardly audible. Grant has profusely declared that what was shown on the video was not a true reflection of what took place. Since then former Ministers in the Douglas Led administration have confirmed that the incident was a set up to tarnish Grant’s image and to hurt him and his party;s chances at the polls. The Video , although seemingly edited and manipulated, was a huge scandal that some pointed to as the reason for Grant and his PAM Party’s failure to win the elections of 2010. However even without the video it is difficult to see how PAM could’ve won with the ruling Labour Party transporting in over 4000 overseas voters. A record number for any small island in the region. Some 19 charters were organised by the ruling Denzil Douglas led Labour Party. Despite the scandal and the charters Grant lost his seat by a mere 29 votes and PAM ended up with the most Votes they ever had in their history with almost 9000 votes.

The so called Marriott Scandal was a political career ender by any standard. Whether the video was heavily manipulated, as most persons feel, or whether it showed a true picture, the video had the potential or should’ve had the potential to destroy any political career. Despite essentially surviving the revolt of five of his candidates, two of whom have since returned to the PAM fold, and being re-elected PAM Leader months after the scandal broke the pressure was immense as calls for his resignation as party leader began to escalate.

On July 17^th  2012 Grant announced his stepping down as PAM Party Leader and resignation effective September 30^th by which time a New leader should be announced.

Hon. Shawn Richards was named leader after Party Chairman Rusty Liburd voted for him over Hon. Eugene Hamilton in a tie-breaker.

Since his exit as Party Leader Grant has been relatively quiet concentrating on his beloved Constituency and constituents and continuing his role as the so called “real” Constituency representative . Grant has the most organised and consistent ground campaign of any candidate in the federation. A a campaign that has significantly heightened his appeal.

Despite the occasional flurry of attacks by the ruling party regarding the Marriott incident Grant’s favourability and popularity has grown steadily to heights never reached before. Recent Polls all show Grant with a favourability rating almost 4 times that of his Opponent Glen “Ghost” Phillip. Much higher than his favourability rating heading into the 2010 elections. Some can say that the horrendously poor representation being provided by the current MP Glenn Phillip has helped Grant to rebound as significantly as he has. But whatever the reason his stature as one of the most beloved, revered and respected politicians has grown since stepping down as leader of the Opposition PAM.

On the weekend the PAM held it’s 49^th Annual Convention and Grant delivered one of the most memorable speeches in the history of local politics. His speech was centered around the theme “URGENCY OF NOW!”. Grant was in spectacular form. His presentation at the Party Conference was riveting, captivating and inspiring. Even his new theme song with the line “I know who I am” speaks to a determined reborn Political juggernaut who is protected by the armour of god. Grant’s re-emergence or some might say re-birth has caused some to label him the comeback kid. With an almost assured victory in the upcoming polls Grant will no doubt be the absolute and undoubted comeback kid of local St.Kitts-Nevis politics.