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.
Sir Clifford Straughn Husbands GCMG KStJ KA QC was a Barbadian judge who served as the sixth Governor-General of Barbados. He held this office from 1996,when he was appointed after the death of Nita Barrow,until he retired on 31 October 2011. He was the longest-serving Barbadian Governor-General.
Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne,was the Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 2002–2019. A trained cardiologist and former chief medical officer of the country,he was appointed governor-general on 22 June 2002. He succeeded Dame Monica Dacon,who had been acting in the position after the death of Charles Antrobus.
The governor-general of Barbados was the representative of the Barbadian monarch from independence in 1966 until the establishment of a republic in 2021. Under the government's Table of Precedence for Barbados,the governor-general of Barbados was regarded as being the most important of all personnel of the Barbados government.
On 30 November 2021,Barbados transitioned from a parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the hereditary monarch of Barbados to a parliamentary republic with a ceremonial indirectly elected president as head of state. The prime minister remained head of government while the last governor-general,Dame Sandra Mason,was elected as the country's first president on 20 October 2021,and took office on 30 November 2021.
The monarchy of Barbados was a system of government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign and head of state of Barbados from 1966 to 2021. Barbados shared the sovereign with the other Commonwealth realms,with the country's monarchy being separate and legally distinct. The monarch's operational and ceremonial duties were mostly delegated to her representative,the governor-general of Barbados.
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.
Freemasonry in Barbados is one of the oldest established organisations in the country. Regular Freemasonry is controlled from London and Edinburgh by the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) and the Grand Lodge of Scotland through local Provincial Grand Lodges. More recently Prince Hall Freemasonry has also been established on the island.
Paula T. Dow is an American lawyer and judge. She served as the 58th Attorney General of New Jersey,appointed by incoming Governor Chris Christie. Her nomination to a full term was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate in February 2010. She is the first African-American woman to be attorney general in state history.
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.
The following is the Barbadian Table of Precedence.
- The President of Barbados
- The Prime Minister
- The Chief Justice
- The Members of the Cabinet
- The Attorney-General of Barbados,as the first minister to be sworn in after the Prime Minister.
- Other cabinet ministers,their own order unknown.
- The former Governors-General
- The National Heroes
- The President of the Senate
- The Speaker of the House of Assembly
- The Leader of the Opposition
- The former Prime Ministers,and the former Chief Justices
- The Members of the President's Privy Council of Barbados
- The Chairman of the Barbados Christian Council
- The Ambassadors and High Commissioners
- The Justices of the Court of Appeals,and the Judges of the High Court
- The Parliamentary Secretaries
- The Deputy President of the Senate
- The Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly
- The Members of the Senate
- The Members of the House of Assembly
- The spouses of deceased dignitaries such as:Governors-General,Prime Ministers,and National Heroes
- The Chairmen of the Commissions established under the Constitution
- The Head of the Civil Service
- The Ombudsman,Director of Public Prosecutions,and Auditor General
- The Director of Finance and Economic Affairs,the Solicitor General,the Chief Parliamentary Counsel,the Permanent Secretaries,and the Governor of the Central Bank
- The Ambassadors/High Commission (Overseas)
- The Chief of Staff for the Barbados Defence Force,and the Commissioner of Police
- 1. The Chancellor,University of the West Indies;2. The Chairman;The Cave Hill Campus Council,University of the West Indies;3. The Principal,Cave Hill Campus;and the Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies.
- The former Ministers
- The Members of The Order of the Caribbean Community,and the holders of knighthoods conferred under the monarchy of Barbados.
- The holders of the Companion of Honour of Barbados
- The holders of the Companions of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
- The Heads of the regional bodies with diplomatic status.
- The Related grades,and the Clerk of Parliament
- The Chargéd'affaires and Acting High Commissioners,Deputy High Commissioners,Counsellors in Embassies,High Commissions and Legations,Consul-General - Chefs de Poste
- The Consuls - Chefs de Posts
- The Members of the Commissions established under the Constitution
- The Chairmen of Statutory Boards
- The Heads of Government Departments,including the Chief Technical Officers of departments integrated in Ministries,The Chief Magistrate,and the Chief Executive Officers of Statutory Boards
- Honorary Consuls,Vice-Consuls in Embassies,and High Commissions and Legations
The High Commission of Barbados in London is the diplomatic mission of Barbados in the United Kingdom. Among the initial diplomatic missions to be established by Barbados after the attainment of independence from Britain,the office was initially located at 28 Cockspur Street where it shared a joint mission with Guyana. In the early 1970s the mission relocated to 6 Upper Belgrave Street,London. Barbados' High Commission remained at that location until the mid 1980s when it moved to its present location at the corner of 1 Great Russell Street in London's Bloomsbury neighbourhood.
The Attorney-General of Barbados is the primary legal advisor to the Government of Barbados.
Sir Rodney Errey Lawrence Williams,is an Antiguan former politician who is the current and 4th Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda,having previously severed as Minister for Education,Culture and Technology and as a Member of Parliament until 2004.
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason is a Barbadian politician,lawyer,and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021. She was previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2021,the second woman to hold the office. On 20 October 2021,Mason was elected by the Parliament of Barbados to become the country's first president,and took office on 30 November 2021,when Barbados ceased to be a constitutional monarchy and became a republic.
Sir Philip Greaves,KA is a Barbadian retired politician who served as the 5th deputy prime minister of Barbados from 1 June 1987 until 6 September 1994 under Lloyd Erskine Sandiford. He later served as acting governor-general of Barbados from 1 July 2017 until 8 January 2018.
This article lists events from the year 2017 in Barbados.
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.
The 2021 Barbadian presidential election was held on 20 October 2021 to choose the first president of Barbados,an office established as part of Barbados becoming a republic. Sandra Mason,the incumbent governor-general of Barbados,was elected president,and she replaced Queen Elizabeth II as head of state of Barbados when she was sworn in on 30 November 2021.
Wilfred Arthur Abrahams is a Barbadian politician,lawyer and current government minister in Barbados. He is the current Minister of Home Affairs and Information in Barbados.
