Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign island country in the West Indies in the Americas, lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major islands, Antigua and Barbuda separated by around 40 km (25 mi), and smaller islands. The permanent population number is about 97,120, with 97% residing on Antigua. The capital and largest port and city is St. John's on Antigua, with Codrington being the largest town on Barbuda. Lying near each other, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17°N of the equator.
The politics of Antigua and Barbuda takes place in a framework of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, wherein the Sovereign of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of state, appointing a Governor-General to act as vice-regal representative in the nation. A Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General as the head of government, and of a multi-party system; the Prime Minister advises the Governor-General on the appointment of a Council of Ministers. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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 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 became Prime Minister and political leader in 1994. The party was founded as the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) by Lester's father, V.C. Bird. The ABLP has traditionally largely been seen as the political arm of the Bird family. With the exception of five years in the 1970s, the ABLP ruled Antigua and Barbuda for over four decades. It was in opposition from 2004 to 2014, and it has been in power again since 2014 since winning a majority of the seats in the Legislature following the 2014 general election.
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 centre-left Barbudan nationalist political party in Antigua and Barbuda.
The Progressive Labour Movement was a major centre-left political party in Antigua and Barbuda and, until the 2000s, was the only political party to have defeated the Antigua Labour Party in an election.
New Barbuda Development Movement is a political party in Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda. NBDM was an offshoot of the Antigua Labour Party. The party contested the March 1997 elections to the Barbuda Council, but won no seats.
The Barbuda Council is a local authority that manages the internal affairs on the island of Barbuda.
Arthur Nibbs is a politician from Antigua and Barbuda. He represents the Antigua Labour Party in the Antiguan Senate. Born in Barbuda, he was educated at the Holy Trinity School and the Antigua Grammar School.
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.
Sir George Herbert Walter, KNH was an Antiguan politician of the Progressive Labour Movement and Premier of Antigua and Barbuda from 14 February 1971 to 1 February 1976.
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.
The Antigua People's Party was a minor political party in Antigua and Barbuda. It began as a faction within the Progressive Labour Movement, an opposition party founded in 1968. This faction, called the Antigua Progressive Movement, believed that the state's political parties should be separate from the trade unions. In 1969, the faction left the PLM to campaign independently. It attracted few votes at the 1971 general election, and it soon folded into the Antigua Labour Party.
The United People's Movement was a political party in Antigua and Barbuda led by former Prime Minister George Walter. The only general elections it contested were those of 1984, in which the party received 23% of the vote, but failed to win a seat.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 12 June 2014. The result was a victory for the opposition Antigua 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 21 March 2018 to elect members to House of Representatives of the 15th Antigua and Barbuda Parliament. Each of the 17 constituencies elected one Member of Parliament (MP).
