The history of Antigua and Barbuda covers the period from the arrival of the Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Antigua and Barbuda were inhabited by three successive Amerindian societies. The island was claimed by England, who settled the islands in 1632. Under English/British control, the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African slaves migrate to the island. In 1981, the islands were granted independence as the modern state of Antigua and Barbuda.
Sir Lester Bryant Bird was an Antiguan politician and athlete who served as the second prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 to 2004. He was chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) from 1971 to 1983, then became prime minister when his father, Sir Vere Bird, the previous prime minister, resigned.
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as Prime Minister. In 1994, he was declared a "National Hero".
The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. The current leader of the party is Gaston Browne, who serves as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The party had previously been led by Lester Bird, who was chairman of the party since 1971, and was Prime Minister and political leader in 1994.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 23 March 2004. The result was a victory for the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), which defeated the incumbent Antigua Labour Party. Baldwin Spencer, leader of the UPP, replaced Lester Bird as Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, with Bird being one of eight Labour MPs to lose his seat. Spencer became only the second Prime Minister from outside the Bird family or the Labour Party.
Winston Baldwin Spencer is an Antiguan politician who was the third prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014.
Elections in Antigua and Barbuda take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy.
The Barbuda People's Movement is a left-wing Barbudan nationalist political party in Antigua and Barbuda active only on the island of Barbuda. The party's symbol is the European fallow deer, national animal of Barbuda. The party seeks the secession of Barbuda from Antigua and Barbuda. The party is allied with the United Progressive Party.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 8 March 1994. They were won by the governing Antigua Labour Party under the leadership of Lester Bird. Bird had been appointed leader of the ALP before the elections, after his father and predecessor Vere Bird announced his intention to retire. Lester Bird became Prime Minister after elections. Voter turnout was 62.3%. This was the first election contested by the United Progressive Party, under future Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 9 March 1989, the second after it had become an independent Commonwealth realm. The elections were won by the governing Antigua Labour Party (ALP), whose leader Vere Bird was reelected as Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 60.7%.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 17 April 1984, the first after the country had become an independent Commonwealth realm in 1981.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 29 November 1960. They were won by the governing Antigua Labour Party (ALP), whose leader Vere Bird was re-elected as Chief Minister, a position he had held since 1 January 1960 when the position was created.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 18 February 1976. Whilst the Progressive Labour Movement received the most votes, the opposition Antigua Labour Party won more than double the number of seats. ALP leader Vere Bird was elected Premier of Antigua. Bird had previously served as head of government of Antigua and Barbuda between 1960 and 1971. He defeated the incumbent Premier George Walter of the Progressive Labour Movement.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 24 April 1980. They were won by the governing Antigua Labour Party. ALP leader Vere Bird was re-elected as Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Voter turnout was 77.1%.
Vere Bird Jr. was an Antiguan lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and a government minister. He was the son of Vere Bird, the former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and brother of Lester Bird, who later held the same position.
Sir Robin Yearwood KGCN is an Antiguan politician and member of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). Entering Parliament in 1976, Yearwood served as Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries in the ALP administration until a cabinet reshuffle in 1987 saw him take over Vere Bird, Jr.'s portfolio for Aviation, Public Information and Public Utilities. Despite a failed attempt to oust the Prime Minister he retained this position, and kept it when he became Deputy Prime Minister on 9 September 2002 and Minister of Finance a year later. Following the ALP's loss in the 2004 election, Yearwood was one of only three ALP members left in the lower house, and became Leader of the Opposition. He held this position until 2006, when he was replaced with Steadroy Benjamin.
Sir Molwyn Joseph, KGCN, is an Antiguan politician and Chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). First entering politics in 1984 when he was made a Minister without Portfolio in the government of Vere Bird, Joseph became Minister of Finance seven years later, renegotiating the Antiguan national debt and introducing fiscal reforms. After a 1996 scandal in which it was discovered he had used his position to import a 1930s Rolls-Royce for a friend, bypassing normal import duties and taxes, he was dismissed from the Bird administration, returning 14 months later to serve as Minister for Planning, Implementation and the Environment. Following the 1999 general election, he became Minister of Heath and Social Improvement before being made Minister of Tourism and the Environment a few months later. As Minister, Joseph attempted to improve the perception of Antigua as a tourist destination and invest in the industry, spending 2 million US dollars increasing the number of hotel rooms on the island and providing money for both Air Jamaica and Air Luxor to provide flights to the island.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 12 June 2014. The result was a victory for the opposition Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party led by Gaston Browne, which won 14 of the 17 seats. Following the election, Browne became the country's youngest Prime Minister.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 18 January 2023 to elect members of the House of Representatives. The Labour Party (ABLP) has held an absolute majority of 15 seats in the House of Representatives after the 2018 general election, with Gaston Browne remaining as prime minister. Browne initiated a constitutional referendum after the 2018 election, which was rejected by voters, and following the death of Elizabeth II in 2022, he announced his intention to organise a referendum for the transition of Antigua and Barbuda to a republican system. Besides ABLP, the United Progressive Party (UPP), Democratic National Alliance, Barbuda People's Movement (BPM), and three independent politicians filed candidacies for the 2023 general election.
Antigua, officially the Associated State of Antigua, was an associated state of the United Kingdom, which was established on 27 February 1967. The associated state was abolished on November 1, 1981 by the Antigua Order.
