The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy headed by King Charles III in his role as King of the Bahamas. The politics of The Bahamas takes place within a framework of parliamentary democracy,with a Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The Bahamas is an Independent Country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. As a former British colony,its political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. King Charles III is the head of state,but executive power is exercised by the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and jurisprudence is based on English common law. The multi-party system is dominated by the Progressive Liberal Party and the Free National Movement. The constitution protects freedom of speech,press,worship,movement,and association.
Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, KCMG,PC,NH,JP was a Bahamian politician who is regarded by some as the "Father of the Nation",having led the Bahamas to majority rule and independence.
Perry Gladstone Christie PC,MP is a Bahamian former politician who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from 2002 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2017. He is the second longest-serving Bahamian elected parliamentarian,representing the Centreville constituency from 1977 to 2017. He is also a former athlete. His Progressive Liberal Party is the oldest Bahamian political party,holding solid majorities in the Bahamian Parliament several times in its long history.
The Free National Movement is a political party in The Bahamas formed in the early 1970s,led by Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and the current deputy leader is Shanendon Cartwright. It dominated the general election held on 10 May 2017,winning 35 of the 39 seats in the Legislature,but was defeated in 2021,losing 28 seats.
Hubert Alexander Ingraham,PC is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002,and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Movement Party (FNM). Prior to the 2012 election,he was the FNM's Party Leader and was the Member of Parliament for the North Abaco constituency. He served as leader of the opposition in the House of Assembly of the Bahamas from 2005 to 2007.
Elections in the Bahamas take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Since independence,voter turnout has been generally high in national elections,with a low of 87.9% in 1987 and a high of 98.5% in 1997. The current Prime Minister is The Hon. Philip Davis.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2007. The result was an opposition victory,with the Free National Movement,led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham,claiming 23 of the 41 seats. Incumbent Prime Minister Perry Christie conceded defeat in a phone call to his rival. Ingraham was sworn into the office of Prime Minister on 4 May.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2002. The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 29 of the 40 seats in the House of Assembly to defeat the governing Free National Movement (FNM). Voter turnout was 90.2%.
Philip Edward "Brave" Davis is a Bahamian politician serving as the prime minister of the Bahamas since 2021. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cat Island,Rum Cay &San Salvador from 1992 to 1997 and returned to the seat in May 2002,which he still represents.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 7 May 2012. They were the first general election in which a third party offered a full slate of candidates alongside the two major parties,the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). The result was a victory for the opposition PLP,whose leader Perry Christie became prime minister.
Frank Howard Watson is a Bahamian civil servant and politician from Free National Movement.
William "Bill" Cartwright was a Bahamian politician,realtor and magazine publisher. Cartwright,together with Sir Henry Milton Taylor and Cyril Stevenson,co-founded the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in 1953,the first national political party to be established in the Bahamas. He was the last surviving member of the PLP's three founders.
Hubert Alexander Minnis,ON is a Bahamian politician and doctor who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from May 2017 to 16 September 2021. Minnis is the leader of the Free National Movement,the former governing party,and the Member of Parliament for the New Providence constituency of Killarney. First elected to the legislature in the 2007 election,he succeeded Hubert Ingraham as party leader following the party's defeat in the 2012 election.
Sir Clement T. Maynard,,was a Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas (1985–92),and deputy leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). His public career ran the gamut from trade unionist to Senator to Member of Parliament.
Loretta Butler-Turner is a Bahamian mortician and politician. She was the leader of the opposition in the Bahamian Parliament from December 2016 to May 2017.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 10 May 2017. The elected members of the House of Assembly then elected the Prime Minister.
Arinthia Santina Komolafe is a Bahamian politician who was elected the Leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA),one of the three main political parties in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,on 24 October 2017. She succeeded Christopher Mortimer,who was appointed as Interim Leader of the DNA on 24 October 2017. Mortimer was appointed Interim Leader following the DNA's defeat in The Bahamas' General Elections on 10 May 2017,when the Party failed to win a parliamentary seat out of the 39 possible parliamentary seats in the House of Assembly. Founder and inaugural leader of the DNA,Branville McCartney announced his intention to resign from the Party and front-line politics following the defeat. Komolafe is the first female leader of the DNA political party and other females such as Cynthia Pratt,former Deputy Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Loretta Butler-Turner,former Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement.
Dionisio James D'Aguilar is a Bahamian Free National Movement (FNM) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Free Town and Minister of Tourism and Aviation from 2017 to 2021. Before getting involved in politics,he was a well-known businessman who served on the board of directors for multiple companies.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 16 September 2021 to elect all 38 members of the House of Assembly.
JoBeth Lillian Coleby-Davis is a Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician and attorney who has been the Bahamian Minister of Housing and Transport since 23 September 2021 and the Member of Parliament for Elizabeth since 6 October 2021. Coleby-Davis defeated the FNM incumbent Duane Sands in the 2021 general election. She previously served in the Senate from 2017 to 2021.
