FORMER Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Nigel Hughes, has admitted that the party’s crushing defeat at the 2025 General and Regional Elections was a direct repudiation of his stewardship, and says that is why he resigned.

Hughes made the blunt assessment during a press conference on Friday when asked by reporters about the factors that influenced his decision to step down.

“The answer is a simple one,” Hughes told the media. “If you’re the captain of the ship and the ship sinks, you’re responsible.”

He continued, “You don’t barely lose a match. You either lose a match or win it. In the legal profession, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. At the end of the day, the responsibility is mine.”

The attorney-at-law stressed that the party’s complete shutout from Parliament, its first time without a single seat, could only be seen for what it was.

“It clearly was a rejection of my leadership, so that is the factor. It’s pure responsibility,” Hughes declared.

FROM PROMISE TO COLLAPSE

Hughes, who took up the leadership in June 2024 with promises to revitalise the floundering party, tendered his resignation last week in a letter seen by this publication.

In it, he accepted full responsibility for what was one of the worst electoral performances in the AFC’s 19-year history.

The party managed to scrape together just over 3,000 votes across all 10 electoral districts—a humiliating outcome for a party that once boasted kingmaker status in Guyanese politics.

The road to the 2025 elections was already littered with defections, as several executive members abandoned the AFC to align with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).