House of Representatives (Belize)

Last updated
House of Representatives
Coat of arms of Belize.svg
Type
Type
Leadership
Valerie Woods, PUP
since 11 December 2020
Johnny Briceño, PUP
since November 12, 2020
Shyne Barrow, UDP
since February 1, 2022
Structure
Seats31
2020 Belize House of Representatives.svg
Political groups
 HM Government
  •   People's United Party (26)

HM Most Loyal Opposition

Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
 11 November 2020
Meeting place
Belmopan Parliament.jpg
National Assembly Building of Belize
Independence Hill
Belmopan
Belize
Website
National Assembly of Belize

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".

Contents

Area Representatives are elected by winning a majority of votes in their respective constituencies under the first-past-the-post system. The body is directly descended from the British Honduras Legislative Assembly created in 1954 with nine elected members. It has been expanded several times since: to 18 in 1961, 28 in 1984, 29 in 1993 and finally to 31 in 2008. The leader of the majority party in the Belize House typically becomes Prime Minister of Belize.

Current members of the House of Representatives by district

The elected representatives and their constituencies according to the Elections and Boundaries Department are:

Belize District
Orange Walk District
Cayo District
Corozal District
Stann Creek District
Toledo District

Elections

Next election

According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the Governor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister. [1] and the election held within three months of the dissolution. [1] The current parliament first met on Friday 13 November 2020, so the next election must be held no later than 13 February 2026.

Past elections

The most recent general election to the House of Representatives, held on 11 November 2020, was the 16th since 1954 when universal literate adult suffrage was introduced, and the 8th since independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. The People's United Party led by Johnny Briceño entered Government for the first time last winning in 2003. It won 26 seats, while the United Democratic Party won only 5 seats. [2]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Belize / Belice: Constitution 1981". Political Database of the Americas. 11 July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "2020 General Election Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-12.

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