Cleone Stapleton-Simmonds

Stapleton-Simmonds was first elected in March 2020 to the Nevis Island Assembly in a by-election for District 5/St Thomas’ Parish as a member of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), following the retirement of the incumbent NRP representative Joseph Parry.^[1][2] Following this result, she became the first woman elected as a parliamentary representative of the NRP.^[3] In September 2020, Stapleton-Simmonds unsuccessfully stood to be leader of the NRP, losing to Janice Daniel-Hodge.^[4] However, she was announced as Deputy Leader of the party.^[5]

Stapleton-Simmonds was re-elected as the representative of District 5 at the 2022 election, becoming one of two elected NRP members sitting in Opposition in the Assembly, with NRP leader Janice Daniel-Hodge being elected to District 4.^[6] In February 2023, she was suspended from the NRP and in May was formally removed from the party following reported disagreements between her and party leader Janice Daniel-Hodge over the process of appointing a senator and a Leader of the Opposition.^[7][8] Stapleton-Simmonds currently sits as an independent representative in the Nevis Island Assembly.^[9]