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But, not so fast. Hyde came out swinging for Thompson today. We met them on Ebony Street which is as close to a meeting point between Lake I and Albert as you'll find. Hyde said that first off he needed to clear a few things up about that ad:

Hon. Cordel Hyde, PUP Deputy Leader
"Seriously, I think we need to set the record straight, because I think the ad is more than a tad, misleading. I think 2 years ago we were in San Pedro at a public meeting, Miss Woods, Myself and a few others. In fact Paul Thompson was there also. She was doing her thing in the senate at the time and I was being kind. She spoke before me and she said that she's not going to run for politics. She is not interested in running and blah, blah, blah. So when I came up afterwards I said 'don't believe Miss Woods, she will definitely run for politics' and I believe she should and I explained why I think she should. But that is not the same as saying that she should run against Paul Thompson in the Albert Division. I mean this is Paul Thompson you know. This is a man who spent donkey in the trenches on the Southside. He's been through thick and thin with us. I mean he lost the November 2015 elections by 350 votes, but he has closed that margin by over 200 votes. We lost in the Albert Division in March of this year by 139 votes and that's because if he was primarily in the Albert Division we would have won, but the truth of the matter is and I feel really bad about this, because I pressured him to be the campaign manager for the city council team. No other standard bearer, no other representative in the People's United Party in Belize City had so much work to do, other than myself and Paul Thompson. So if he was working primarily in the Albert Division, we would have surely won, but if he did that, then there was a chance he would have lost the city council battle and that's the kind of person Paul Thompson is. He is a selfless fellow. You know this."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"In view of what Mr. Thompson did for as the campaign manager, is it your view that he should have been given a bly rather than being thrown into a contested convention?"

Hon. Cordel Hyde, PUP Deputy Leader
"I am not one for blys. When convention time comes around if anybody wants to challenge and they pass the test, then they should be allowed to run. I believe you become stronger and better after going through a contested convention. So I don't think Paul should run away from that. I think that he has embraced it. I think that this convention challenge has brought out the best in him, because at the end of the day, I come against Valerie Smith, I come for Paul Thompson. Because I feel like he is the right person at the right time."

"You see all the social chaos that is going on in this country on the Southside of Belize City. This man has quietly been doing his part for trying to push kids in the right direction and providing the outlets. But you would never know this, because the man doesn't go on the camera. He is not chasing for an interview. He is not showing himself. The man is an authentic roots man."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"There are big people in the party who says that Paul is lazy, he is not walking the division, he is not working the division. So there are people in the PUP, big people, who want Valerie Woods to succeed over Paul Thompson."

Hon. Cordel Hyde, PUP Deputy Leader
"But it's not the big people who decide who will win this convention. It's not the big people who are the residence of the Albert Division. We can't have big people deciding who is going to run for the party. It has to be to allow the people on the ground to decide who they want to run for them. That's why I believe in conventions and allowing people to run."