By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor 

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has revealed that former Prime Ministers Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie opposed his initial bid to enter frontline politics, a move he says derailed an early promise of a nomination.

Addressing a PLP leadership module on Saturday, Mr Davis said Sir Lynden Pindling had pledged him the candidacy for the newly created Marco City seat in Grand Bahama in the 1970s, according to his speech obtained by The Tribune. That collapsed after a Candidates Committee vote tied and Sir Lynden cast the deciding ballot against him.

“I’ll never forget the day I asked him, ‘What happened?’ He replied with his infamous line, ‘Dey ain’ tell you?’ I had no idea what he meant. It turned out that Christie and Ingraham — both of whom I deeply respected — had opposed my nomination. They believed I should stay in the firm and out of politics,” Mr Davis said.

At the time, the three were business partners in the law firm Christie, Ingraham & Co.

Davis said he stepped back from frontline politics to focus on law while working behind the scenes on campaigns for both men. He returned in 1991 when Sir Lynden urged him to step in for Cat Island, fought internal resistance and rallied support after again hearing the line, “Dey ain’ tell you?” “Just bring your people,” he said Sir Lynden told him, adding that he then secured the meetings list and mobilised backers.

Mr Davis framed the episodes as proof that politics is unpredictable and often unforgiving, arguing that persistence and purpose turn setbacks into stepping stones. He noted he entered Parliament as a backbencher, was widely tipped for Cabinet when the PLP returned in 2002 but Mr Christie denied him a position; he instead chaired the National Insurance Board. 

Mr Davis noted that even after he rose within the party, advancement did not come easily. By 2009 he was elected deputy leader of the PLP with what he described as a “gentleman’s agreement” that he would eventually succeed Mr Christie as party leader. Instead, he remained in the deputy’s role until the PLP’s 2017 defeat, a stretch he said taught him resilience, patience, and the importance of staying true to his purpose even when the path to leadership seemed uncertain.

Pivoting to the party’s direction, Mr Davis said the PLP was founded to serve, not to operate as a private club or insider circle, and he called for a recommitment to dignity, discipline and keeping promises to ordinary people. He said the leadership standard he expects is exacting: “Servant leadership is not soft. It is hard. It is raw. It is unglamorous. It means taking calls you don’t want to take. It means walking into rooms where you’re not welcome—and still doing the work. It means standing up when it would be easier to sit down and let someone else carry the load. It means telling the truth — especially when it costs you.”

He closed by telling PLP hopefuls to measure themselves by the trust they build, not by applause or titles: “Let us keep it,” he said. “Let us carry it with care. Let us make this party worthy of our people again. Let us be servants. And let us be leaders.”