Disloyal! Talk show host bemoans Ronnie Skelton’s treatment

Skelton

Talk show host Claude Skelton Cline has condemned what he described as political disloyalty to former Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton following his recent ousting from the post in the House of Assembly.

Appearing on his radio programme Honestly Speaking, Skelton Cline, who is also Skelton’s nephew, expressed personal and political disappointment at how the veteran politician was treated by opposition members now forming the breakaway Alliance group.

“What the honourable member Skelton has shown throughout his political career is that he has been loyal to a whole bunch of people who ain’t been loyal to him,” Skelton Cline stated.

Skelton, who served more than two decades in public office, was replaced by Sixth District Representative Myron Walwyn last week after Alliance members submitted a letter to the Governor claiming majority support. Skelton Cline, however, questioned the manner and timing of the move.

“In their rush and their pursuit for power, [they] didn’t even have the strategy to say, ‘Let’s wait and let’s not be seen as rushing the brush.’ No, they ain’t wait for that,” he argued.

He said Skelton had brought several political figures under his wing, only to be sidelined when their ambitions grew. “Because he didn’t move the way they wanted him to move or when he wanted to move, they in essence have blatantly disrespected,” Skelton Cline asserted.

Skelton was last seen physically separated from the other opposition members during a recent House of Assembly sitting. While Skelton Cline noted he had emotional ties to the issue, he stressed that his critique also stemmed from intellectual and historical observations.

“There’s a man who’s given 28, 30 years of his life in public service,” he said, adding that many political actors appeared more focused on “being the big baller shot caller” than building the territory.

Skelton Cline also warned of repeating past mistakes, saying the Alliance’s pattern of political disruption mirrored earlier internal party divisions. “Every time a move has been made, it has been seen to be as a disruptive move that has severed ties, severed relationships, break up parties,” he noted.

While acknowledging that “politics is a full-contact sport,” he said leadership should prioritise national interest over personal ambition.

“We have not shown ourselves to be loyal to anything or anybody,” Skelton Cline said. “You don’t solve a crisis by creating another crisis.”

Walwyn sworn in as Opposition Leader