House of Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Arthur E. Holder, BLP
since 5 June 2018
Mia Mottley, BLP
since 25 May 2018
None
since 19 January 2022
Structure
House of Assembly political groups
Government
  •   Barbados Labour Party (30)
Elections
House of Assembly voting system
First-past-the-post
Last House of Assembly election
19 January 2022
Meeting place
House of Assembly chamber
Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados
Website
The House of Assembly

The House of Assembly of Barbados is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. It has 30 Members of Parliament (MPs), who are directly elected in single member constituencies using the simple-majority (or first-past-the-post) system for a term of five years. The House of Assembly sits roughly 40–45 days a year and is presided over by a Speaker.

The Barbadian House of Assembly chamber is located in the east-wing of The Public Buildings on Broad Street, in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Oath of affirmation

Under section 59 of the constitution, before entering upon the functions of his office, the MPs must take the oath of allegiance to Barbados.

Next election

The Constitution of Barbados reads, in part:

  • 61(3) "...Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting after any dissolution and shall then stand dissolved."
  • 62(1) "After every dissolution of Parliament the Governor General [since 30 November 2021: President] shall issue writs for a general election of members of appointment the House of Assembly returnable within ninety days from that dissolution."[1]

The next election is therefore due to be held in 2027, but can be held sooner if the President of Barbados so directs.

Latest elections

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Barbados Labour Party78,72069.03300
Democratic Labour Party30,27326.5500
Alliance Party for Progress3,2052.8100
Solutions Barbados6990.6100
Bajan Free Party1910.1700
New Barbados Kingdom Alliance1220.110New
Barbados Sovereignty Party1200.110New
Independents7050.6200
Total114,035100.00300
Registered voters/turnout266,330–
Source: Nation News (seats); calculation based on Nation News (votes); (turnout)

Previous elections

In previous elections the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Barbados National Party (BNP), the Conservatives and Independents also won seats besides the two big parties - the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). The DLP had been in opposition since 6 September 1994. Fourteen years later when they won a surprise victory of 20 seats to 10 on 15 January 2008, DLP Leader David Thompson was sworn in as the 6th Prime Minister of Barbados. Freundel Stuart was sworn in on 23 October 2010 because of the death of Prime Minister Thompson, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2010. Two months later in May he became ill when the then Acting Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had started, and five months later he was sworn in on 23 October as the 7th Prime Minister of Barbados. On 23 February 2013 he was sworn in as the 7th Prime Minister of Barbados by obtaining sixteen out of thirty seats. The general elections of 21 February were one of the closest elections Barbados has ever seen. On 24 May 2018, the BLP returned to power under Mia Mottley with a historic landslide victory that saw them win all 30 seats in parliament and Mottley becoming the 1st female Prime Minister and the 8th Prime Minister overall.[2] This occurred once again on the 19 January 2022 when the Mottley Administration won all 30 seats again in another landslide victory.[3]

Election   BLP     DLP    NDP    BNP   Conservatives Independents
19 January 2022 300
24 May 2018 300
21 February 201314 16
15 January 200810 20
21 May 2003 237
20 January 1999 262
6 September 1994 1981
21 January 199110 18
28 May 19863 24
18 June 1981 1710
2 September 1976 177
9 September 19716 18
3 November 19668 142
4 December 19615 1441
6 December 1956 15432
13 December 1951 1011

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Constitution of Barbados" (PDF). Government of Barbados. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Barbados General Election Results 2018". www.caribbeanelections.com. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  3. ↑ "Another 30-0". www.nationnews.com. 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-01-20.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.