CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, CMC – The main opposition Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) scored a slender one seat victory in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) election, according to the preliminary figures released here on Tuesday night.

The preliminary results showed that the CCM, led by Vance Amory had defeated the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) led by outgoing Premier Joseph Parry.

Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs in the Federal Assembly, Patrice Nisbett, who lost the St. James Parish in the 2011 poll, was again defeated by the CCM’s Alexis Jeffers by a margin of 980 to 760 votes.

Premier Parry had opted for a national poll than a by election following a court ruling last year that removed a one-seat majority his NRP had since 2011.

In the 2011 election, NRP deputy leader Hensley Daniel had won the St. John’s constituency by 14 votes, defeating the CCM’S deputy leader Mark Brantley, who later took the matter to court citing various irregularities.

But both the High Court and the Appeal Court ruled in favour of Brantley and Premier parry rather than hold a by-election opted for the national poll.

On Tuesday, Brantley won the seat polling 1584 votes as against 1344 for Daniel, while Amory scored an easy victory over polling 713 votes to his challenger’s tally of 195.

The polls were monitored by a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Observer team.