Smith, who was sworn in as Deputy Premier last evening, ran for elections initially as an independent Territorial At-Large candidate but subsequently joined the National Democratic Party platform where she successfully secured one of only four available seats.

Skelton Cline commented on his Honestly Speaking radio programme yesterday: “We learn that Lorna Smith who ran and rallied with the National Democratic Party, who rallied and railed against the [Virgin Islands] Party for all their ‘corruptible ways’ — in their own words, not mine, I’m [just] explaining what happened… Lorna, who was in your corner, turned around and joined the same Virgin Islands Party.”

“Now we understand what ‘corner’ Lorna in. Lorna end up in the VIP corner,” Skelton Cline said while alluding to Smith’s election jingle.

The clergyman insisted that residents need “stop the frig” that was taking place in BVI’s politics, and admonished his fellow Christians not to contact him about his commentary. “Stop the frig” — a vulgar slang that can be used to express contempt or annoyance — was a tagline used by Territorial At-Large candidate Daniel Fligelstone Davies during the election campaign.

“Where is Daniel Davis? I need to call Daniel Davies and I want one of your [election] pins,” Skelton Cline said. “Stop the frig. I want one of your pins… ’cause, this is a frig. And you Christian people, don’t look at me, don’t message me. Don’t look at me. Don’t message me. Don’t say, he’s a pastor. Stop the frig. I don’t want to hear you all. My God.”

Skelton Cline argued that he could not have fathomed “within the deepest recesses of his imagination” that Smith could have moved from the NDP to the VIP following the elections, calling it a clear example of politics making strange bedfellows.

“I would have never thought that. Not Lorna Smith. Not Lorna Smith. Not Lorna Smith. I would have put money on it,” the outspoken commentator said. “Just like the other 30-something hundred people in this country would have put money on it. Anybody else but Lorna Smith would have moved to the Virgin Islands Party. How? When? In which century? And yet, my God, just when you thought you have seen it all, keep on living. You going to see some more.”

He added: “Even as I sit here right now, and even as I’m talking about it, can I tell you? I still can’t believe it. I still can’t grasp it in my mental sky. I still can’t contain it nowhere within the fibre of my being. I still don’t believe. As a matter of fact, I hope somebody will slap me on the side of my face and say, ‘boy, wake up. You’re just talking crazy. You’re dreaming.”