Welcome to The Bay Street Brief!

Pardon I for being late this Monday. We had some technical difficulties ya see.

And just like that. Silly Season has come to an end. We have a (new) government, and it’s time for them to take down the posters and get to work to bring these campaign promises to life.

Let's get into it.

On Tuesday, May 12, Prime Minister Philip "Brave" Davis did something no Bahamian prime minister has done in nearly thirty years… he won a second consecutive term. The PLP took 33 of 41 seats, crushed the FNM, and sent a message that Bahamians were not in the mood for a change of direction.

One thing worth noting: the PLP's 33 seats came from 51% of votes cast, but only 34% of all registered voters. The exact same figure as 2021.

The night had some moments worth talking about.

Sebas Bastian won Fort Charlotte with 69% of the vote, one of the dominant individual performances of the night. On the other side of the ledger, Lincoln Bain and the Coalition of Independents had their best election ever, doubling their vote share from 6.6% in 2021 to 12% in 2026. Bain himself briefly led in Pinewood before Myles LaRoda held the seat. The COI got 12% of the votes and zero seats. Can’t joke about them not being a serious party anymore, they beat the FNM in a few constituencies.

The FNM had a rough night beyond just the seat count. Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright lost in the newly formed St. James constituency. Chairman Dr. Duane Sands lost in Bamboo Town. And in Killarney, the seat former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis had held since 2007, Minnis ran as an independent and received 562 votes. The seat was won by the FNM's Michela Barnett-Ellis, which is the only reason that sentence doesn't end worse. Rick Fox, who many expected to hold Garden Hills, lost to Mario Bowleg.

Then came the Cabinet.

Brave was sworn in for his second term and immediately set about building the largest Cabinet in Bahamian history, 22 cabinet ministers (who run their own ministries) and 7 ministers of state (junior ministers who assist within a ministry). Twenty-nine people in total. Davis's defence: "The task during this term is even greater than in the last."

Some notable moves: Culture has been split from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture into its own standalone ministry, with Leslia Miller-Brice named Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. Sebas Bastian gets a new Ministry of Innovation and National Development. Glenys Hanna-Martin moves from Education to Tourism. Myles LaRoda, fresh off holding Pinewood on election night, is your new Minister of National Security.

Dr. Michael Darville returns to Health and Wellness, despite the Bahamas Nurses Union making their feelings about that very clear. Darville says he's ready to hit the ground running. The nurses, presumably, are watching.

And then there's Wayne Munroe. The former National Security Minister ran in Freetown, a seat he won with 53% of the vote in 2021, and lost. The voters of Freetown said no. The Prime Minister said yes anyway. Munroe was appointed to the Senate and named Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs. Constitutionally fine. Politically something.

On the other side of the aisle, Michael Pintard was unanimously endorsed to remain as FNM leader despite some calls for his resignation. He was sworn in as Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition this morning. Former PM Hubert Ingraham offered his own post-mortem: the Minnis administration's handling of the pandemic and Hurricane Dorian damaged the FNM's brand, and the party hasn't recovered. The FNM's Senate picks, Elsworth Johnson, Arinthia Komolafe, Rick Fox, and Dr. Trevor Johnson, were also confirmed.

What to watch: The national budget drops May 27. That's when we find out what a second-term PLP government with a massive mandate and the largest Cabinet in history actually plans to do with it.

The world's two biggest economies met in Beijing this week, and the result was... a bunch of slapping up.

President Trump touched down in China on Wednesday with a delegation that read like a Silicon Valley guest list: Elon Musk, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Apple's Tim Cook and about 30 other CEOs in tow. Xi rolled out the full red carpet: honour guard, state banquet, an invite to the exclusive compound where China's Communist Party leaders actually live and work. Trump was impressed. He invited Xi to the White House in September.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that China had agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets, with a potential commitment for 750 more. Boeing confirmed the deal. China's foreign ministry said nothing about that, offering only that both sides should work toward "mutual benefit and win-win cooperation." So… yea.

Trump also said American farmers would be happy because China agreed to buy "billions of dollars" of soybeans. China, again, did not confirm this. Both sides did agree to set up a "Board of Trade" to manage the relationship without reopening tariff negotiations, which is either a pragmatic solution or a way of kicking the can down the road, depending on who you ask.

The one moment that cut through the diplomatic fog: Xi warned that Taiwan remains "the most important issue" in the relationship, and that if mishandled, the two nations "could collide or even come into conflict." That is not new language, but it landed differently in the middle of an otherwise celebratory summit.

On Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, which affects oil prices everywhere including here, Xi offered vague support for reopening shipping lanes. Nothing concrete came of it.

Like we said… slapping up.

Last week, we voted and decided who should run the country for the next five years. This week, we’re checking that you can solve a BGCSE math problem before we let you do that again:

Simplify this equation:

19s - 6t - s + 5t

Check the bottom of the newsletter for the answer.

🔌 Grand Bahama's Lower Electricity Bills Will Have To Wait Davis promised Grand Bahamians lower bills in their next billing cycle after the government acquired GBPC from Emera. GBPC has since clarified that new rates still need regulatory approval from URCA before anything changes.

✈️ The Drug Bust That Reads Like A Netflix Series Jonathan Eric Gardiner, a suspected drugs kingpin, was arrested by US authorities after his Election Day flight crashed into the sea 80 miles off Florida. He was found with $30,000 in an envelope allegedly labelled with a prominent Bahamian politician's name. The DEA has been building this case since 2023. There is a lot more to come.

🎰 The FNM Wants The Gaming Cabinet Appointments In Court The FNM says Sebas Bastian and Leslia Miller-Brice's Cabinet appointments may violate the Gaming Act given their links to the gaming industry. Both ministers say they cleared compliance with regulators. The FNM says the public deserves more than a referral to the Gaming Board.

💰 The Bahamas Still Has No Campaign Finance Laws. Still. A Commonwealth observer mission called out The Bahamas again for having zero campaign finance regulation. Former Jamaican PM Bruce Golding noted that international bodies have been making the same recommendation for years, and politicians keep ignoring it. The people, he said, need to make this their business.

🇨🇺 Cuba Is Running On Fumes Literally. The Cuban government confirmed it has run out of fuel, triggering nationwide blackouts lasting up to 19 hours and street protests. The US has offered $100M in aid… with conditions attached.

🇬🇧 UK PM Keir Starmer Is Having A Very Bad Month Labour got hammered in local elections, and now nearly a quarter of his own MPs want him gone. Two rivals are already positioning to replace him. He says he's not going anywhere.

🚗 Honda Gave Up On Electric Cars After posting its first annual loss since 1957, Honda scrapped its EV targets and is pivoting to 15 new hybrid models by 2030. Turns out people weren't as ready to go electric as the industry thought.

🏦 The Fed Has A New Boss Jerome Powell's eight-year run as Federal Reserve chair ended Friday. Kevin Warsh takes over. Powell spent his final years fighting off Trump's attempts to control interest rate decisions. He leaves with his independence intact, barely.

In their final days, Spirit Airlines explored every option to keep the planes flying. Acquisitions. Mergers. Even a deal with the White House.

But you know what they didn’t try? Advertising with The Bay Street Brief.

Your brand could be here. Unlike Spirit, you still have time. Reply to this email to advertise with The Bay Street Brief. 🇧🇸

FOCOL CEO Dexter Adderley confirmed this week that the company's liquefied natural gas ambitions go well beyond the regasification facility currently under construction at Clifton Pier. FOCOL wants to bring natural gas to the entire country. Eleuthera, Abaco and Exuma already have small LNG plants in the works. Adderley put it plainly: "We touch virtually every island in this country. It's mostly all diesel. We're here to help move that to something cleaner, more affordable and more reliable."

Shell is the supplier. Shell has not said a word publicly about any of this. A company representative was at last week's contract signing but said she couldn’t speak for the company.

One thing to mention… Adderley was asked directly whether, given what's happening in the Middle East and the volatility it's creating in energy markets, LNG will still be cheaper for BPL customers by the time it actually arrives. His answer: only Shell knows, and Shell isn't talking. He did mention that that LNG doesn't swing with crude oil prices the way diesel does, which is at least something.

The bottom line: Diesel has been running this country's power for too long and everyone knows it. The move to natural gas, if it lands right, changes the cost picture for Bahamians across the Commonwealth.

18s - t.

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Until next time.

— The Bay Street Brief Team