Independent Kenny Bascome conceded defeat at the second count and left the St.

George's North Polling Station at East End Primary with PLP's Delaey Robinson already leading by a whopping 300 votes.

Robinson met him at the door to try to clear the air with his rival.

And though Bascome was heard to tell Robinson "I didn't have a problem with you, Delaey'', the outspoken St. George's businessman will not be so forgiving of the party that overlooked him.

"That's very unlikely,'' Bascome replied swiftly when asked if he was going to rejoin the PLP.

"I don't believe that I have a political future at this time, but I will continue to be the civic-minded individual I've been all along and will continue to work with young people who continue to fall afoul of the law.'' When the final counts had come in, Bascome was a distant fifth out of six candidates, as St. Georgians let him know there was no room for an Independent in the constituency.

And while he admitted he didn't do nearly as well as he had expected, he stood defiant in his decision to run against the party he had long supported.

"I expected to do a little better than I did do,'' he acknowledged.

"Delaey and I have no problem with one another, I told him that from the beginning. My only problem was I didn't appreciate the way the branch treated me as a person who had worked diligently on behalf of the Progressive Labour Party.' Added Bascome: "I'm not completely disheartened but as far as politics are concerned I think I can walk away with a sense of dignity and pride because I believe in myself.'' He accepted the message was made very clear to him through the number of votes he collected, having earlier thought of himself as a serious threat. In the end he finished well behind the two UBP candidates.

"I wouldn't necessarily say there is no room for an Independent because it took an independent lawyer to get the gag lifted off the talk shows. And you have lawyers on both political parties who did not take the initiative to challenge that particular gag order.

"So there is room for independent thinkers and I will continue to be the independent person that I've been.'' It was not a good showing for the Independents as another former PLP member, Phil Perinchief, was soundly beaten in Pembroke West.

Perinchief managed just 324 votes, almost 200 behind third placed Carvel Vanputten of the PLP. Still, the lawyer was encouraged by the result.

"I am very pleased with the result, especially considering that the platform I was presenting was quite a radical platform,'' he said.

"I dealt with issues such as our tax system and our electoral system. The fact that 324 people voted for me shows that there is a strong body of support out there -- that's nearly 15 percent of the vote.

"I think the new Government is now going to have to deal with those issues.

They have got five years before the next election and so I think they will tackle them now -- certainly the question of Independence has to be looked at.

I think the OECD and the EU will force it on them. What both the OECD and EU do is part of the same question.'' Another Independent, Kingsley Francis, of St. George's North again failed to reach double figures. This time he doubled his tally, however, taking eight of the votes compared with four in 1993.

Gershwyn Smith, running as an Independent in Smith's South, gained 38 votes -- his best ever performance as an Independent ever.