| Parliament name |
Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
23 March 2004 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
On 26 February 2004, Prime Minister, Lester Bird announced that the people of Antigua and Barbuda would go to the polls to elect a new government on 23 March 2004.
The Prime Minister had faced mounting criticism amid political infighting in his own party and corruption scandals under his administration. In 2003, three members of Parliament defected from the ruling Labour Party after falling out with Mr. Bird over his refusal to hold a vote of confidence.
Politics in the country are dominated by the Bird family, which has held the post of Prime Minister since independence from Great Britain in 1981. Mr. Lester Bird has been Prime Minister since 1994 when he succeeded his father, former Prime Minister Vere Bird, who was in office from 1981 to 1994.
The governing Antigua Labour Party (ALP) was seeking a seventh term in office. However, polls conducted before the election produced an unclear picture of what was turning out to be mainly a two-party race between the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), as there was one poll which presented the UPP as the clear winner, while another one showed the opposite.
The electoral campaign was mainly focused on corruption. The opposition leader, Mr. Baldwin Spencer, declared that despite a series of scandals, successive ALP governments had done nothing to prevent corruption. The Prime Minister responded that his party had laid down strict anti-corruption guidelines, following a 2002 inquiry into the national medical insurance scheme that led to fraud charges against seven officials.
On the invitation of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Commonwealth agreed to send Electoral Observer Missions to monitor the process.
According to officials at the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission, a total of 40 candidates including six independents, registered to vie for one of the 17 seats in the House of Representatives.
More than 42,000 of the country's 70,000 residents were registered to vote and 91 per cent turned out.
Official results showed that the United Progressive Party had obtained some 55 per cent of the votes and 12 seats, while the Antigua Labour Party took some 42 per cent of the votes and 4 seats. As the elections in Barbuda resulted in a tie, another election was held to resolve the situation on 20 April 2004.
On 24 March 2004, Mr. Baldwin Spencer, leader of the United Progressive Party, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 23 March 2004 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
43'456
39'626 (91.19%)
181
39'445 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| United Progressive Party (UPP) |
|
21'890 |
|
|
55.49 |
|
|
| Antigua Labour Party (ALP) |
|
16'534 |
|
|
41.92 |
|
|
| Barbuda People's Movement (BPM) |
|
408 |
|
|
1.03 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| United Progressive Party (UPP) |
12
|
|
|
|
|
| Antigua Labour Party (ALP) |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Barbuda People's Movement (BPM) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
17
2
10.53%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
|
5
7
6
1
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Number of men includes one appointed member (Attoney General)
Number of women Includes one approved member (Speaker of the House)
Sources: Clerk to Parliament (20.02.2005)
|
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page