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All 30 seats in the House of Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 56.88% ( 6.48pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in Barbados on 21 May 2003. [1] The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party, which won 23 of the 30 seats. Voter turnout was 57%, the lowest since universal suffrage was introduced in 1951. [1]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barbados Labour Party | 69,294 | 55.80 | 23 | –3 | |
Democratic Labour Party | 54,746 | 44.09 | 7 | +5 | |
Independents | 137 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 124,177 | 100.00 | 30 | +2 | |
Valid votes | 124,177 | 99.77 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 286 | 0.23 | |||
Total votes | 124,463 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 218,811 | 56.88 | |||
Source: Nohlen |
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region next to North America and north of South America, and is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands. It lies on the boundary of the South American and Caribbean plates. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.
Barbados is an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, situated about 100 miles (160 km) east of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Roughly triangular in shape, the island measures some 21 miles (34 km) from northwest to southeast and about 14 miles (23 km) from east to west at its widest point. The capital and largest town is Bridgetown, which is also the main seaport.
The politics of Barbados function within a framework of a parliamentary republic with strong democratic traditions; constitutional safeguards for nationals of Barbados include: freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.
Owen Seymour Arthur was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1 August 1993 to 6 September 1994 and from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013.
The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. It has been in power in 1954–1961, 1976–1986, 1994–2008, and 2018–present. The BLP has been the governing party of Barbados since 2018.
The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), colloquially known as the "Dems", is a political party in Barbados, established in 1955. It was the ruling party from 15 January 2008 to 24 May 2018 but faced an electoral wipeout in the 2018 general election which left it with no MPs.
The prime minister of Barbados is the head of government of Barbados. The prime minister is appointed by the president under the terms of the Constitution. As the nominal holder of executive authority, the president holds responsibility for conducting parliamentary elections and for proclaiming one of the candidates as prime minister.
Elections in Barbados are held to choose members to fill elective offices in the House of Assembly. Elections are held on Election Day. These general elections do not have fixed dates, but must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. A former minister of the DLP, Warwick Franklin summed up the general elections process in Barbados as saying it is really just, "30 by-elections on the same day."
The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly, as well as the President of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both. Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings, in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.
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 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 following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Barbados.
David John Howard Thompson was the sixth prime minister of Barbados from 15 January 2008 until his death from pancreatic cancer on 23 October 2010.
Mia Amor Mottley, is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold either position. She is also Barbados' first prime minister under its republican system, following constitutional changes she introduced that abolished the country's constitutional monarchy.
Freundel Jerome Stuart, OR, PC, SC is a Barbadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Barbados and the leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013; and from 21 February 2013 to 25 May 2018. He succeeded David Thompson, who had died in office on 23 October 2010 from pancreatic cancer.
General elections were held in Barbados on 24 May 2018. The result was a landslide victory for the opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP), which won all 30 seats in the House of Assembly, resulting in BLP leader Mia Mottley becoming the country's first female Prime Minister. The BLP's victory was the first time a party had won every seat in the House of Assembly. Previously, the most one-sided result for a Barbadian election had been in 1999, when the BLP won 26 of the 28 seats. The BLP's 73.5 percent vote share was also the highest on record.
The president of Barbados is the head of state of Barbados and the commander-in-chief of the Barbados Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021. Prior to that date, the head of state was Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, who was represented on the island by a governor-general. The final person to hold that position, Sandra Mason, is currently serving as Barbados' first president.
Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the People's Party for Democracy and Development since 8 June 2019.
General elections were held in Barbados on 19 January 2022 to elect the 30 members of the House of Assembly. The ruling Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats for the second consecutive election.