Before European colonization, the Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited by Taino and Lucayan peoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor, and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since. In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands' self-government following allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections.
Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby as of August 9, 2006 the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the Turks and Caicos Islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Council.
The Progressive National Party is a political party in the Turks and Caicos Islands, currently led by Washington Misick. The PNP holds 14 of the 15 seats in the House of Assembly and has been the government since 20 Feb 2021.
Derek Hugh Taylor is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 31 January 1995 to 15 August 2004. He is the former leader of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) party.
Oswald O'Neil Skippings is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 19 June 1980 to 4 November 1980 and again from 3 March 1988 to 3 April 1991.
Norman B. Saunders is a Turks and Caicos Islander former politician who served as the 3rd Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 4 November 1980 to 28 March 1985. Saunders is also the longest-serving Member of the House of Assembly in the Turks and Caicos Islands, nearing 50 years of service, the first Chief Minister to win back-to-back elections with a resounding 8-3 victories at the polls in 1980 and 1984, the only ever politician in the nation to win as an independent candidate, and the first leader of the opposition.
James Alexander George Smith McCartney, also known as J. A. G. S. McCartney or "Jags" McCartney, was a politician from the Turks and Caicos Islands. He was the first Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands and held that position from 31 August 1976 until 9 May 1980, when he died when the private plane he was in crashed near Vineland, New Jersey, while flying from Washington, D.C. to Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Clement Howell was a politician from the Turks and Caicos Islands. He served on a four-member interim advisory council beginning in July 1986, after two previous chief ministers were forced to resign and the ministerial government in the territory was suspended.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 9 February 2007. The result was a victory for the ruling Progressive National Party (PNP), which won thirteen of the fifteen seats in the House of Assembly. PNP leader Michael Misick remained Premier.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 24 April 2003. The result was initially a victory for the ruling People's Democratic Movement (PDM), which won seven of the thirteen seats in the Legislative Council, with PDM leader Derek Hugh Taylor remaining Chief Minister. However, a court order resulted in the results in South Caicos North and Five Cays Providenciales being annulled. The opposition PNP won both seats in the subsequent by-elections and subsequently formed a government in August with Michael Misick becoming Chief Minister.
General elections were held in Turks and Caicos Islands on 9 November 2012. The PNP won the election, winning eight seats with the PDM winning seven. The PNP won most of its seats by narrow margins over the PDM, while the PDM won its seats by wide margins over the PNP, with the result that despite winning fewer seats and thereby losing the election, the PDM garnered more overall votes nationwide.
Sharlene Linette Cartwright-Robinson JP is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician and lawyer who served as the 4th Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 20 December 2016 to 20 February 2021. She was the territory's first female premier. She was also the first woman to become first, deputy head, and then, head of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM).
General elections were held in Turks and Caicos Islands on 15 December 2016. The result was a victory for the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), with Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson becoming the islands' first female Premier. Following the election outgoing Prime Minister Rufus Ewing resigned as Progressive National Party (PNP) leader and quit politics.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 29 September 1976. Although the Progressive National Organisation (PNO) received the most votes, the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) emerged as the largest party in the Legislative Council, winning five of the eleven seats. Following the elections, the PDM formed a coalition government with the two independents, with PDM leader James Alexander George Smith McCartney becoming the first Chief Minister of the islands.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 4 November 1980. The result was a victory for the opposition Progressive National Party (PNP), which won eight of the eleven seats in the Legislative Council. Following the elections, PNP leader Norman Saunders became Chief Minister.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 29 May 1984. The result was a victory for the ruling Progressive National Party (PNP), which won eight of the eleven seats in the Legislative Council, including Kew North Caicos, where Rosita Butterfield became the islands' first female Legislative Council member. Following the elections, PNP leader Norman Saunders remained Chief Minister.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 3 March 1988. They were the first after the suspension of the islands' constitution between 1986 and 1988, which followed Chief Minister Norman Saunders leaving office in March 1985 after being arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling and the next Chief Minister Nathaniel Francis resigning in July 1986 after a British parliamentary inquiry accused him of corruption.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 2 February 1995. The result was a victory for the opposition People's Democratic Movement (PDM), which won eight of the thirteen seats in the Legislative Council. Following the elections, PDM leader Derek Hugh Taylor became Chief Minister.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 4 March 1999. The result was a victory for the ruling People's Democratic Movement (PDM), which won nine of the thirteen seats in the Legislative Council. PDM leader Derek Hugh Taylor remained Chief Minister.
Edwin Andre Astwood is a politician from the Turks and Caicos Islands who has been Leader of the Opposition since February 2021 and Leader of the PDM party since June 2021. He served as Minister of Health, Agriculture and Human Services from 2016 to 2021. Astwood has been a Member of the House of Assembly for Grand Turk South & Salt Cay since November 2012. He is the son of one of the founders of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), Lewis Edwin Astwood III.
