| Albert | |
|---|---|
| Constituency for the Belize House of Representatives | |
 | |
 Belize City's historic Swing Bridge with the Belize City Commercial Center (located in Albert) in the background. | |
| District | Belize |
| Electorate | 3,468 (2015) |
| Major settlements | Belize City (part) |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1961 |
| Party | United Democratic Party |
| Area Representative | Tracy Taegar-Panton |
Albert is an electoral constituency in the Belize District of Belize.
The Albert constituency was created for the 1961 general election as part of a major nationwide redistricting. Albert is named after the principal street (Albert Street) within its jurisdiction.
Albert Constituency is home to the headquarters of most of Belize's banks, Belize City's major stores, The Supreme Court of Belize City, The Bliss Center for the Performing Arts, The Belize City House of Culture, Battlefield Park, the Belize City Commercial Center, and several government offices.
Albert, often referred to locally as Albert Division, is located entirely within the boundaries of Belize City, and is one of 10 constituencies in the Belize District that fall within its city limits. Albert is considered the downtown area of Belize City and is located on the eastern part of the city's southside.
Albert is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the east and south, Haulover Creek to the north, and the constituencies of Mesopotamia and Queen's Square to the west. The historic Belize City Swing Bridge, which crosses Haulover Creek, connects Albert with the Fort George constituency. Albert is Belize's smallest constituency in terms of area.
In an era in which the People's United Party overwhelmingly dominated Belizean national politics, Philip Goldson of the National Independence Party first won Albert in 1965. He held the seat as a member of the NIP, then the UDP and finally the NABR until his retirement in 1998. Goldson was the sole opposition member in the Belize House during much of the 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1998 Mark Espat won the constituency for the PUP for the first time in 37 years, defeating the UDP's Tom Morrison. Espat was re-elected by comfortable margins until his retirement in 2012.
Albert is currently represented in the House of Representatives of Belize by the UDP's Tracy Taegar- Panton, who is Minister of State with responsibility for Investment, Trade and Commerce.
| Election | Area representative [1] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Frederick Westby | PUP | |
| 1965 | Philip Goldson | NIP | |
| 1973 | UDP | ||
| 1992 | NABR | ||
| 1998 | Mark Espat | PUP | |
| 2003 | Mark Espat | PUP | |
| 2008 | Mark Espat | PUP | |
| 2012 | Herman R. Longsworth | UDP | |
| 2015 | Tracy Panton | UDP | |
| 2020 | Tracy Panton | UDP | |
| Election | Political result | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 general election [2] Electorate: 3,180 Turnout: 1,886 (59.31%) −13.52 | UDP gain from PUP Majority: 227 (12.04%) −14.9 | Herman R. Longsworth | UDP | 1,034 | 54.83 | +18.87 | ||
| David Craig | PUP | 807 | 42.79 | −20.11 | ||||
| 2008 general election [3] Electorate: 3,242 Turnout: 2,361 (72.83%) −5.3 | PUP hold Majority: 636 (26.94%) −41.75 | Mark Espat | PUP | 1,485 | 62.9 | −19.93 | ||
| Tom Morrison | UDP | 849 | 35.96 | +21.82 | ||||
| 2003 general election [4] Electorate: 2,286 Turnout: 1,789 (78.13%) −12.66 | PUP hold Majority: 1,229 (68.69%) +27.05 | Mark Espat | PUP | 1,482 | 82.83 | +12.99 | ||
| Marilyn Williams | UDP | 253 | 14.14 | −14.06 | ||||
| Sydney Fuller | Independent | 54 | 3.02 | - | ||||
| 1998 general election [5] Electorate: 1,738 Turnout: 1,578 (90.79%) +34.18 | PUP gain from NABR Majority: 657 (41.64%) +28.44 | Mark Espat | PUP | 1,102 | 69.84 | +26.44 | ||
| Tom Morrison | UDP | 445 | 28.2 | - | ||||
| Gilda Jo-Ann Lewis | NABR | 18 | 1.14 | −55.46 | ||||
| Ruth Patricia Smith | PDP | 4 | 0.25 | - | ||||
| 1993 general election [6] [7] Electorate: 2,701 Turnout: 1,529 (56.61%) −1.77 | NABR hold Majority: 201 (13.2%) −4.8 | Philip Goldson | NABR | 865 | 56.6 | - | ||
| Roy Young | PUP | 664 | 43.4 | +3.3 | ||||
| 1989 general election [8] [9] Electorate: 2,393 Turnout: 1,397 (58.38%) −4.97 | UDP hold Majority: 252 (18.0%) −21.0 | Philip Goldson | UDP | 812 | 58.1 | −11.0 | ||
| Roy Young | PUP | 560 | 40.1 | +10.0 | ||||
| 1984 general election [10] [11] Electorate: 2,180 Turnout: 1,381 (63.35%) −24.73 | UDP hold Majority: 539 (39.0%) +28.5 | Philip Goldson | UDP | 954 | 69.1 | +14.4 | ||
| Rafael Chavez | PUP | 415 | 30.1 | −14.1 | ||||
| 1979 general election [12] Electorate: 3,474 Turnout: 3,060 (88.08%) +22.31 | UDP hold Majority: 10.5% (−9.2) | Philip Goldson | UDP | 54.7 | −4.5 | |||
| George Dakers | PUP | 44.2 | +4.7 | |||||
| 1974 general election [13] Electorate: 2,375 Turnout: 1,562 (65.77%) −9.11 | UDP hold Majority: 19.7% (+4.9) | Philip Goldson | UDP | 59.2 | - | |||
| Joseph Gray | PUP | 39.5 | −2.4 | |||||
| 1969 general election [14] Electorate: 2,544 Turnout: 1,905 (74.88%) +3.42 | NIP hold Majority: 14.8% (+3.4) | Philip Goldson | NIP | 56.7 | +1.1 | |||
| Joseph Gray | PUP | 41.9 | −2.3 | |||||
| 1965 general election [15] Electorate: 3,577 Turnout: 2,556 (71.46%) −10.44 | NIP gain from PUP Majority: 11.4% (+6.5) | Philip Goldson | NIP | 55.6 | +36.9 | |||
| Frederick Westby | PUP | 44.2 | +1.4 | |||||
| 1961 general election [16] Electorate: 2,424 Turnout: 2,058 (84.9%) n/a | PUP win Majority: 4.9% (n/a) | Frederick Westby | PUP | 42.8 | - | |||
| Nicholas Pollard | CDP | 37.9 | - | |||||
| Floss Casasola | NIP | 18.7 | - | |||||
Elections in Belize are the duly held elections held at various levels of government in the nation of Belize.
Port Loyola is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Gilroy Usher of the People's United Party (PUP).
The House of Representatives of Belize is the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives".
Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson was a Belizean newspaper editor, activist and politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Belize as member for the Albert constituency from 1965 to 1998 and twice as a minister. Goldson was a founding member of both of Belize's current major political parties, the People's United Party (PUP) in the 1950s and the United Democratic Party (UDP) in the 1970s. He was also the leading spokesman of the hardline anti-Guatemalan territorial claims National Alliance for Belizean Rights party in the 1990s.
Peter Eden Martinez is a Belizean politician and member of the United Democratic Party. He served a single term as Area Representative in the House of Representatives from the Toledo East constituency from 2008 to 2012.
General elections were held in Belize on 4 November 2015 to elect members of the House of Representatives. On 28 September 2015 Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced that he had advised the Governor-General to dissolve the National Assembly and to fix Wednesday 4 November 2015 as the date for the next general elections.
Queen's Square is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Denise Barrow of the United Democratic Party. Her brother, former Prime Minister Dean Barrow, previously held the constituency from 1984 until he retired during the 2020 Belizean general election.
Mesopotamia, sometimes abbreviated as Mesop, is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Shyne Barrow of the United Democratic Party.
Fort George is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize represented by Henry Usher since 2020. It was previously represented by Usher’s father and former Prime Minister of Belize Said Musa of the People's United Party from 1974 to 1984 and from 1989 until the 2020 general election.
Toledo East is an electoral constituency in the Toledo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2012 by Michael Espat of the People's United Party. Espat also served several non-consecutive terms in the constituency dating back to 1989.
Pickstock is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Anthony Mahler of the People's United Party (PUP).
Freetown is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2003 by Francis Fonseca of the People's United Party. Fonseca served as PUP leader and Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2016.
Collet is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2003 by Patrick Faber of the United Democratic Party.
Cayo North is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize by Michel Chebat of the People’s United Party (PUP).
Cayo South is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2012 by Julius Espat of the People's United Party.
Belize Rural North is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Marconi Leal of the People's United Party.
Belize Rural Central is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Dolores Balderamos-García of the People's United Party (PUP).
Cayo West is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Jorge Espat of the People's United Party (PUP).
Derek Aikman was a Belizean politician. He served in the Belize House of Representatives as an area representative for the Freetown constituency in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Dangriga is an electoral constituency in the Stann Creek District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Louis Zabaneh of the People's United Party.