The United Workers Party (UWP) was formed shortly before the 1964 general elections by an alliance of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the National Labour Movement (NLM). Led by Sir John Compton, the UWP won the elections, taking six of the eight seats in the election. The UWP was the governing party in St. Lucia from 1964 to 1979 and again from 1982 to 1997.

The United Workers Party is a member of the Caribbean Democrat Union, the regional organisation of the global conservative International Democrat Union. 

Its 2006 manifesto pointed to the growing threat of crime and the challenge of economic development, proposing to reduce the national debt, partly by establishing a new division in the Ministry of Finance tasked with that end and partly by establishing a Development Bank and other initiatives aimed at developing small business.  It pledged a renewed commitment to agriculture, which it claimed had been ignored by government strategies focused on service industries.  It also promised to uncover and end corruption and the misuse of public funds. 

Its 2006 slogans, “A Secure Future” and “Papa is Back”, emphasized the party's traditional and familiar qualities and its venerable leader.

In 2011 the UWP lost the election to Labour but regained power in the 2016 elections, taking 11 of the 17 seats in the House.