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Barbados Labour Party

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Barbados Labour Party
LeaderMia Mottley MP
FounderSir Grantley Adams
Founded31 March 1938 (As the Barbados Progressive League)
HeadquartersGrantley Adams House,
111 Roebuck Street,
Bridgetown
Youth wingLeague of Young Socialists
IdeologySocial democracy
Republicanism
Political positionCentre-left
ColoursRed and Gold
House of Assembly
30 / 30
Senate
12 / 21
Website
www.blp.org.bb

The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. Led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, it is the governing party of Barbados and the sole ruling party in the House of Assembly of Barbados, holding 30 out of 30 seats. The BLP was elected to government on 25 May 2018 after a decade in opposition, with Mottley becoming the country's first female prime minister. The party originally won all of the seats in the House of Assembly, but Bishop Joseph Atherley, the MP for St. Michael West, became an independent MP (later founder and leader of the People's Party for Democracy and Development[1]) and the leader of the opposition on 2 June 2018.[2] The party won all 30 seats in the 2022 general election.

In common with Barbados' other major party, the Democratic Labour Party or the "Dems", the BLP has been broadly described as a centre-left social-democratic party, with local politics being largely personality-driven and responsive to contemporary issues and the state of the economy. However, the party distinguishes itself by being rooted in Asquithian Liberal policies, including a focus on trade as a way of bolstering economic growth over the creation of social services.[3]

The BLP is a former observer member of the Socialist International.[4]

Discover more about Barbados Labour Party related topics

Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of 432 km2 (167 sq mi) and has a population of about 287,000. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.

Prime Minister of Barbados

Prime Minister of Barbados

The prime minister of Barbados is the head of government of Barbados. The prime minister is appointed by the president under the terms of the Constitution. As the nominal holder of executive authority, the president holds responsibility for conducting parliamentary elections and for proclaiming one of the candidates as prime minister.

House of Assembly of Barbados

House of Assembly of Barbados

The House of Assembly of Barbados is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. It has 30 Members of Parliament (MPs), who are directly elected in single member constituencies using the simple-majority system for a term of five years. The House of Assembly sits roughly 40–45 days a year and is presided over by a Speaker.

Opposition (politics)

Opposition (politics)

In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed, primarily ideologically, to the government, party or group in political control of a city, region, state, country or other political body. The degree of opposition varies according to political conditions. For example, in authoritarian and democratic systems, opposition may be respectively repressed or desired. Members of an opposition generally serve as antagonists to the other parties.

Joseph Atherley

Joseph Atherley

Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the People's Party for Democracy and Development since 8 June 2019.

People's Party for Democracy and Development

People's Party for Democracy and Development

The People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP), abbreviated as the People's Party, is a political party in Barbados established on 8 June 2019 and led by Joseph Atherley. At its foundation, it served as the main opposition party in both houses of the Barbadian Parliament, with one seat in the House of Assembly and two seats in the Senate from 8 June 2019 till 19 January 2022.

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), colloquially known as the "Dems", is a political party in Barbados, established in 1955. It was the ruling party from 15 January 2008 to 24 May 2018 but faced an electoral wipeout in the 2018 general election which left it with no MPs.

Social democracy

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a liberal-democratic polity and a capitalist-oriented mixed economy. The protocols and norms used to accomplish this involve a commitment to representative and participatory democracy, measures for income redistribution, regulation of the economy in the general interest, and social welfare provisions. Due to longstanding governance by social democratic parties during the post-war consensus and their influence on socioeconomic policy in Northern and Western Europe, social democracy became associated with Keynesianism, the Nordic model, the social-liberal paradigm, and welfare states within political circles in the late 20th century. It has been described as the most common form of Western or modern socialism, as well as the reformist wing of democratic socialism.

H. H. Asquith

H. H. Asquith

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith,, generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last Liberal prime minister to command a majority government, and the most recent Liberal to have served as Leader of the Opposition. He played a major role in the design and passage of major liberal legislation and a reduction of the power of the House of Lords. In August 1914, Asquith took Great Britain and the British Empire into the First World War. During 1915, his government was vigorously attacked for a shortage of munitions and the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign. He formed a coalition government with other parties but failed to satisfy critics, was forced to resign in December 1916 and never regained power.

Socialist International

Socialist International

The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of social-democratic, socialist and labour political parties and organisations.

History

Originally called the Barbados Progressive League until 1944, the party was founded on 31 March 1938 at the home of James Martineau. During the first meeting, Chrissie Brathwaite and Grantley Adams were elected as chairman and vice-chairman, respectively. Adams had entered the House of Assembly in 1934 partly through his deconstruction of the labour-focused efforts of the Charles Duncan O'Neal’s Democratic League,[5] but this new party turned to organizing the political movement brought on by the unrest of 1937 that he had earlier opposed. As such, their objectives included many of the league’s original goals, such as adult suffrage, free education, and better housing and health care.[6]

The BLP first participated in general elections in 1940. In 1994, Owen Arthur became the prime minister as leader of the Barbados Labour Party. In the 2003 elections the BLP won 23 out of the 30 seats. The number increased to 24 in 2006, when in an almost unprecedented development the leader of the opposition, after a bitter and tumultuous internal battle within his own party, resigned the post and joined the governing party.

Grantley Adams House, the party's current headquarters, Bridgetown
Grantley Adams House, the party's current headquarters, Bridgetown

The Barbados Labour Party governed from 1994 to 2008, which was commonly called the "Owen Arthur Administration". Prime Minister Arthur was chosen from among leaders around the globe to deliver the William Wilberforce lecture on the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade Act.

The party lost power in the 2008 general election, winning 10 seats against 20 for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).[7] After the election, Arthur stepped down as BLP leader and was replaced by former deputy prime minister Mia Mottley in a leadership election against Attorney-General of Barbados Dale Marshall. Mottley also became opposition leader.[8]

In the summer of 2008 Hamilton Lashley, MP for St. Michael South East, resigned from the party to become an independent candidate in the House of Assembly. He was thereafter given a job by the DLP, the party he had belonged before crossing the floor to the BLP, as a consultant on poverty. This move by the member reduced to nine the number of seats the Barbados Labour Party had in the House.

The BLP returned to power in 2018 under Mia Mottley, who became Barbados's first female prime minister.[9] In January 2022, Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s Labor Party (BLP) obtained a landslide victory, winning all 30 legislative seats, in the first general election since Barbados became a republic in 2021.[10]

Discover more about History related topics

Charles Duncan O'Neal

Charles Duncan O'Neal

Charles Duncan O'Neal was a Barbados physician, political figure and labor rights activist. He founded the radical Democratic League in 1924 and influenced the shift towards party-focused politics still seen in Barbados today.

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage ensures the right to vote for as many people who are bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the "one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion of youth and non-citizens, while some insist that much more inclusion is needed before suffrage can be called universal. Democratic theorists, especially those hoping to achieve more universal suffrage, support presumptive inclusion, where the legal system would protect the voting rights of all subjects unless the government can clearly prove that disenfranchisement is necessary.

Owen Arthur

Owen Arthur

Owen Seymour Arthur, PC was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1 August 1993 to 6 September 1994 and from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013.

2003 Barbadian general election

2003 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 21 May 2003. The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party, which won 23 of the 30 seats. Voter turnout was 57%, the lowest since universal suffrage was introduced in 1951.

Slave Trade Act 1807

Slave Trade Act 1807

The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it did encourage British action to press other nation states to abolish their own slave trades.

2008 Barbadian general election

2008 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 15 January 2008. A concurrent referendum to determine whether or not to become a republic was initially planned but vote was postponed.

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), colloquially known as the "Dems", is a political party in Barbados, established in 1955. It was the ruling party from 15 January 2008 to 24 May 2018 but faced an electoral wipeout in the 2018 general election which left it with no MPs.

Mia Mottley

Mia Mottley

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.

Attorney-General of Barbados

Attorney-General of Barbados

The Attorney-General of Barbados is the primary legal advisor to the Government of Barbados.

Dale Marshall (politician)

Dale Marshall (politician)

Dale Dermot Marshall SC is the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs in Barbados.

2018 Barbadian general election

2018 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 24 May 2018. The result was a landslide victory for the opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP), which won all 30 seats in the House of Assembly, resulting in BLP leader Mia Mottley becoming the country's first female Prime Minister. The BLP's victory was the first time a party had won every seat in the House of Assembly. Previously, the most one-sided result for a Barbadian election had been in 1999, when the BLP won 26 of the 28 seats. The BLP's 73.5 percent vote share was also the highest on record.

2022 Barbadian general election

2022 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 19 January 2022 to elect the 30 members of the House of Assembly. The ruling Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats for the second consecutive election.

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Result
1951 Grantley Herbert Adams 53,321 54.5%
15 / 24
 Increase 15 Increase 1st Majority government
1956 48,667 49.3%
15 / 24
 Steady Steady 1st Majority government
1961 Hugh Gordon Cummins 40,096 36.8%
4 / 24
 Decrease 11 Decrease 2nd Opposition
1966 Grantley Herbert Adams 47,610 32.6%
8 / 24
 Increase 4 Steady 2nd Opposition
1971 Harold Bernard St. John 39,376 42.4%
6 / 24
 Decrease 2 Steady 2nd Opposition
1976 Tom Adams 51,948 52.7%
17 / 24
 Increase 11 Increase 1st Supermajority government
1981 61,883 52.2%
17 / 27
 Steady Steady 1st Majority government
1986 Bernard St. John 54,367 40.4%
3 / 27
 Decrease 14 Decrease 2nd Opposition
1991 Henry Forde 51,789 43.0%
10 / 28
 Increase 7 Steady 2nd Opposition
1994 Owen Arthur 60,504 48.3%
19 / 28
 Increase 9 Increase 1st Majority government
1999 83,445 64.9%
26 / 28
 Increase 7 Steady 1st Supermajority government
2003 69,294 55.9%
23 / 30
 Decrease 3 Steady 1st Supermajority government
2008 61,316 46.5%
10 / 30
 Decrease 13 Decrease 2nd Opposition
2013 74,121 48.2%
14 / 30
 Increase 4 Steady 2nd Opposition
2018 Mia Mottley 112,955 73.5%
30 / 30
 Increase 16 Increase 1st Supermajority government
2022 78,720 69.03%
30 / 30
 Steady Steady 1st Supermajority government


West Indies election

See also: West Indies Federal Labour Party, 1958 West Indies federal elections, West Indies Federation, and Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation
Election Party Group Leader Votes Seats Position Government
No. Share No. Share
1958[11] WIFLP Grantley Herbert Adams 72,054 57.8%
4 / 5
 80.0% 1st WIFLP

Discover more about Electoral history related topics

1951 Barbadian general election

1951 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 13 December 1951, the first held under universal suffrage. The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party, which won 15 of the 24 seats. Voter turnout was 64.6%. Edna Ermyntrude Bourne, elected in the Parish of St. Andrew, became the island's first female member of the House of Assembly.

1956 Barbadian general election

1956 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 7 December 1956. The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party, which won 15 of the 24 seats. MPs were elected across twelve two-member constituencies, using the block vote method. Voter turnout was 60.3%.

1961 Barbadian general election

1961 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 4 December 1961. They were the first held after Barbados was granted full self-government earlier in the year. 24 MPs were elected across twelve two-member constituencies, using the block vote method.

1966 Barbadian general election

1966 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 3 November 1966. This election was the last contested using two-member constituencies, in which each voter had two votes. The result was a victory for the Democratic Labour Party, which won 14 of the 24 seats. This was the last election contested by the Barbados National Party. Once a powerful force in Barbados politics, the party stood only four candidates and was reduced to two seats; the BNP formally disbanded in 1970. Voter turnout was 79.7%.

1971 Barbadian general election

1971 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 9 September 1971. Amendments to the electoral system saw the two-member constituencies previously used replaced by single-member first-past-the-post constituencies. This was also the first election in modern Barbadian history to be contested by only two political parties, not including two independent candidates.

1976 Barbadian general election

1976 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 2 September 1976. The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party, which won 17 of the 24 seats, defeating the ruling Democratic Labour Party and returning to power for the first time since 1961. This was the first and only election contested by the newly formed People's Political Alliance, whose eight candidates won only 572 votes. Voter turnout was 74.1%.

1981 Barbadian general election

1981 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 18 June 1981. The result was a victory for the ruling Barbados Labour Party, which won 17 of the 27 seats. Voter turnout was 71.6%.

1986 Barbadian general election

1986 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 28 May 1986. The result was a landslide victory for the Democratic Labour Party, which won 24 of the 27 seats. Among the Barbados Labour Party MPs who lost their seats was incumbent Prime Minister Harold Bernard St. John. The Workers Party of Barbados contested the elections for the first and only time, the only occasion on which a communist party contested an election in Barbados. Voter turnout was 77%.

1991 Barbadian general election

1991 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 22 January 1991 to elect all 28 members (MPs) of the House of Assembly of Barbados. The result was a victory for the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP), which won 18 of the 28 seats. The opposition Barbados Labour Party led by Henry Forde won ten seats, an increase of seven compared to the 1986 elections. Voter turnout was 63.7%. DLP leader Lloyd Erskine Sandiford remained Prime Minister.

1994 Barbadian general election

1994 Barbadian general election

Early general elections were held in Barbados on 6 September 1994. The result was a victory for the opposition Barbados Labour Party, which won 19 of the 28 seats, with its leader Owen Arthur becoming Prime Minister. The ruling Democratic Labour Party led by David Thompson was reduced to only eight seats. The National Democratic Party became the first third party to win a seat since the Barbados National Party in 1966, with NDP leader, Richard Haynes, winning St. Michael South Central. Voter turnout was 60.9%.

1999 Barbadian general election

1999 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 20 January 1999. The result was a landslide victory for the Barbados Labour Party led by Owen Arthur, which won 26 of the 28 seats. The opposition Democratic Labour Party led by David Thompson, only won two seats. Voter turnout was 63.4%.

2003 Barbadian general election

2003 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 21 May 2003. The result was a victory for the Barbados Labour Party, which won 23 of the 30 seats. Voter turnout was 57%, the lowest since universal suffrage was introduced in 1951.

2018 candidates

Discover more about 2018 candidates related topics

Wilfred Abrahams

Wilfred Abrahams

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.

Joseph Atherley

Joseph Atherley

Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the People's Party for Democracy and Development since 8 June 2019.

Marsha K. Caddle

Marsha K. Caddle

Marsha K. Caddle is a politician and economist from Barbados, who is a Member of Parliament and the Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment.

Dale Marshall (politician)

Dale Marshall (politician)

Dale Dermot Marshall SC is the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs in Barbados.

Mia Mottley

Mia Mottley

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.

Sonia Browne

Sonia Browne

Sonia Browne is a Barbadian politician and physician. She is a member of parliament in the House of Assembly of Barbados. She was first elected member of parliament in January 2018. She also serves as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health. Browne is the Chairman of Committees in the 2018-2023 Parliament.

Branches

The women's branch of the Barbados Labour Party is called the Women's League. The youth branch is called the League of Young Socialists.

Source: "Barbados Labour Party", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 12th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados_Labour_Party.

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Further Reading

Politics of Barbados

Owen Arthur

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

Grantley Herbert Adams

House of Assembly of Barbados

Cabinet of Barbados

2008 Barbadian general election

Mia Mottley

Freundel Stuart

1958 West Indies federal elections

2018 Barbadian general election

United Progressive Party (Barbados)

2020 St George North by-election

President of Barbados

Joseph Atherley

People's Party for Democracy and Development

2022 Barbadian general election

Alliance Party for Progress
References
  1. ^ "Atherley defends move to start new party". The Barbados Advocate. 7 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Bishop Atherley now Leader of the Opposition". The Barbados Advocate. 2 June 2018.
  3. ^ Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Vol. 44 (1998).
  4. ^ "Member Parties of the Socialist International". Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  5. ^ Gordon Lewis, The Growth of the Modern West Indies, New York, 1972.
  6. ^ Keith Hunte, Emancipation III: Aspects of the Post-Slavery Experience of Barbados, 1988.
  7. ^ "Thompson sworn in as Barbados PM", Xinhua, 17 January 2008.
  8. ^ Trevor Yearwood, "MIA takes over", Nation News, 20 January 2008. Archived 23 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine Nation News, 24 January 2008.
  9. ^ "Barbados General Election Results 2018". caribbeanelections.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Barbados PM hails governing party's landslide election victory". www.aljazeera.com.
  11. ^ "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Mar 27, 1958, p. 20". NewspaperArchive.com. 27 March 1958. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
Further reading
  • F. A. Hoyes. The Rise of West Indian Democracy: The Life and Times of Sir Grantley Adams. Advocate Press (1963).
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