André Ebanks, who until recently was the Cayman Islands representative to the UK and Europe, has officially declared he intends to run for office as an independent for West Bay South.
The constituency’s incumbent MP Tara Rivers announced earlier this week that she would not be seeking re-election.
As of Friday, Ebanks and Raul Nicholson-Coe, also an independent, were the only two candidates to have officially declared their bids for the West Bay South seat.
Earlier this month, Ebanks, who is a lawyer, resigned from his post as head of the UK office – a position he has held for almost two years. While it was speculated that he had done so with plans to run for in West Bay South, he only officially confirmed this on Friday.
He returned to Cayman from London in December. Charles Parchment is currently the acting representative in Cayman’s London office.
In his candidacy declaration, Ebanks said his campaign would focus on “reducing the cost of living, improving living standards, employment for Caymanians, prioritised gender equality, enhanced human services and a fit-for-purpose educational system”.
He added, “To address these important issues, my focus will be on securing a strong economy through protecting and promoting financial services, kickstarting innovation and alternative industries to achieve a more diverse economy, and supporting tourism so, that when the time is right, we can re-open our borders safely.
“I will look to advancing a sustainability agenda – balancing the development necessary for progress with the needs of our environment.”
He stated that his qualifications and experience would enable him to assist Cayman as it faced “further headwinds with the recent addition of these islands to the FATF grey list and spectre of further black lists”.
Prior to his role leading the Cayman Islands UK office, Ebanks served as deputy chief officer in the Ministry of Community Affairs and as senior legislative policy advisor in the Ministry of Financial Services. Before joining the civil service, he worked in the Investment Funds Practice Group of Walkers (Cayman), where he specialised in investment fund formation, restructurings, liquidations, general corporate and regulatory matters.
For a full list of candidates and more election coverage, click here.
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