| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
9 seats in the Legislative Council 5 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. |
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 1 July 1946, alongside local elections. The Butler Party and the United Front won three seats each. Voter turnout was 53%. [1]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Front | 37,891 | 29.39 | 3 | |
Butler Party | 28,767 | 22.31 | 3 | |
Trades Union Congress and Socialist Party | 22,191 | 17.21 | 2 | |
Trinidad Labour Party | 1,356 | 1.05 | 0 | |
Progressive Democratic Party | 515 | 0.40 | 0 | |
Independents | 38,198 | 29.63 | 1 | |
Total | 128,918 | 100.00 | 9 | |
Valid votes | 128,918 | 93.88 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 8,408 | 6.12 | ||
Total votes | 137,326 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 259,512 | 52.92 | ||
Source: EBCTT, Caribbean Elections |
Constituency | Member | Party |
---|---|---|
Caroni | Clarence Abidh | Trades Union Congress and Socialist Party |
Eastern Counties | Victor Bryan | Trades Union Congress and Socialist Party |
North Port of Spain | Albert Gomes | United Front |
St George | Chanka Maharaj | British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party |
St Patrick | Timothy Roodal | British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party |
San Fernando | Roy Joseph | United Front |
South Port of Spain | Patrick Solomon | United Front |
Tobago | A. P. T. James | British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party |
Victoria | Ranjit Kumar | Independent |
Source: La Guerre & Girvan [2] |
The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498,, and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch, and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889, the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from which the country gained its independence in 1962. Under the 1976 republican Constitution, the monarch was replaced as head of state by a President chosen by an electoral college composed of the members of the bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010. He was also the political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) from 1987 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell, but with the seat in 2020 being won by his son Brian Manning. Patrick Manning was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001.
The president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of state of Trinidad and Tobago and the commander-in-chief of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1976, before which the head of state was the Queen of Trinidad and Tobago, Elizabeth II. The last governor-general, Sir Ellis Clarke, was sworn in as the first president on 1 August 1976 under a transitional arrangement. He was formally chosen as president by an electoral college consisting of members of both houses of Parliament on 24 September 1976, which is now celebrated as Republic Day.
The United National Congress is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unionist, and actor after a split in the ruling National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). After spending six years in opposition, the UNC won control of the government in 1995, initially in coalition with the NAR and later on its own. In the 2000 general election, the UNC won an absolute majority in the Parliament. In 2001, a split in the party caused the UNC to lose its parliamentary majority and control of the government. From 2001 to 2010, the UNC was once again Parliamentary Opposition party. In May 2010, the UNC returned to government as the majority party in the People's Partnership. The UNC's Political Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Kamla Persad-Bissessar was Prime Minister from 2010 until 2015.
The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections since 1956 serving as the nation's governing party or on four occasions, the main opposition. It is one out of the country's two main political parties. There have been four PNM Prime Ministers and multiple ministries. The party espouses the principles of liberalism and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum.
The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is a unicameral devolved legislative body responsible for the island of Tobago within the unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago. The THA was re-established in 1980 to rectify some of the disparities in the relationship between the two islands; a prior body of the same name existed from 1768 to 1874. In addition to the normal local government functions, the THA handles many of the responsibilities of the central government, but has limited ability to collect taxes and to impose local law or zoning regulations. At the helm of the Assembly Legislature is the Presiding Officer with the fifteen elected assemblymen, and four appointed councillors. Three of the councillors are appointed on the advice on the Chief Secretary and one on the advice of the Minority Leader. The Chief Secretary is the leader of the majority party in the assembly and is at the helm of the Executive arm of the THA.
Trinidad and Tobago elects its House of Representatives on the national level. The head of government, the prime minister, is chosen from among the elected representatives on the basis of his or her command of the support of the majority of legislators. The Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 41 members, elected for a maximum five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 31 members: 16 government senators appointed on the advice of the prime minister, six opposition senators appointed on the advice of the leader of the opposition and nine so-called independent senators appointed by the president to represent other sectors of civil society. The president is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the members of both houses of Parliament. Other elected bodies include the local government bodies in Trinidad and the Tobago House of Assembly, which handles local government in the island of Tobago and is entrenched in the constitution.
Raffique Shah is a Trinidad and Tobago trade union leader and political commentator. He is also a former Member of Parliament and mutineer, having led a mutiny of Trinidad and Tobago Regiment in 1970.
Albert Maria Gomes was a Trinidadian unionist, politician, and writer of Portuguese descent, was the first Chief Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was the founder of the Political Progress Groups and later led the Party of Political Progress Groups. He was active in the formation of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in Trinidad and Tobago and played a role in forcing Sir Alexander Bustamante out of the Federal Democratic Labour Party. Gomes briefly led DLP in 1963 when factions loyal to briefly ousted Rudranath Capildeo after Capildeo left Trinidad and Tobago to take up a position at the University of London. However, the rank and file of the party stood behind Capildeo, and Gomes left the party.
Alphonso Philbert Theophilus "Fargo" James, born in Black Rock, Tobago, was a Trinidad and Tobago politician. He was elected to the Legislative Council in 1946. He served in the Legislative Council until 1961 when he was defeated by A. N. R. Robinson. James was known as "Fargo", after a brand of trucks, because of his strength and tendency to crush opponents. He was known as being a proponent of Tobagonian secession from Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated 11 kilometres off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and 130 kilometres south of Grenada. It shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the east, Grenada to the northwest and Venezuela to the south and west. Trinidad and Tobago is generally considered to be part of the West Indies. The island country's capital is Port of Spain, while its largest and most populous municipality is Chaguanas.
Keith Christopher Rowley, is a Trinidadian politician serving as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, first elected into office on 9 September 2015 and again following the 2020 general election. He has led the People's National Movement (PNM) since May 2010 and was Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2015. He has also served as the Member of the House of Representatives for Diego Martin West since 1991. He is a volcanologist by profession, holding a doctorate in geology, specializing in geochemistry.
The Trades Union Congress and Socialist Party was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. It contested the 1946 general elections, receiving 17.2% of the vote and winning two of the nine seats, Clarence Abidh in Caroni and Victor Bryan in Eastern Counties. Although it finished second in the 1950 elections, the party's vote share fell to 10.5% and it was reduced to a single seat. The party did not contest any further elections.
The Trinidad Labour Party was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Formed in 1934 when the Trinidad Workingmen's Association changed its name, it was the country's first party.
The West Indian National Party was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. It was originally founded on 18 November 1942 as a progressive party, aligned with the socialist views of trade unionists Quintin O'Connor and Rupert Gittens of Trade Union Congress. One of the key planks of their platform was the nationalisation of major industries. In 1945 Claude Lushington attended the Pan-African Congress in Manchester on behalf of the party.
County Council elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 28 October 1946, alongside general elections.
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, 10 August 2020, to elect 41 members to the 12th Trinidad and Tobago Republican Parliament. It was the 14th election since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1962 and the 22nd national election in Trinidad and Tobago ever. Tracy Davidson-Celestine, political leader of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement (PNM) became the first woman to lead a Tobagonian political party with representation in the House of Representatives. Additionally, two of the three largest parties elected in 2015, the United National Congress (UNC) and the Congress of the People (COP), were led by women.
General elections will be held in Trinidad and Tobago by 2025 to elect 41 members to the 13th Trinidad and Tobago Republican Parliament. It will be the 100th anniversary of general elections in the country.