| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Parliament of Barbados / Parlement de Barbade |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
House of Assembly |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
15 January 2008 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for the seats of the House of Assembly following the premature dissolution of this body. Previous elections had been held in May 2003. |
On 20 December 2007
Prime Minister Owen Arthur called early elections to the House of Assembly for 15 January 2008
eight months ahead of the constitutional due date.
Since independence in November 1966
the country's politics have been dominated by two parties: the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In the previous elections held in May 2003
the BLP took 23 of the 30 seats at stake
while the remainder went to the DLP led by Mr. Clyde Mascoll. Mr. Arthur
who had been Prime Minister since 1994
was subsequently sworn in for his third term in office.
In January 2006
Mr. Mascoll resigned as DLP leader following a row over the party's leadership. He subsequently joined the BLP and later became Junior Finance Minister. A no-confidence motion against Mr. Mascoll was blocked on 4 December 2007
and the DLP boycotted parliamentary sessions until the House of Assembly was dissolved on 20 December.
On 26 November
Deputy Prime Minister
Ms. Mia Mottley
announced that a referendum on whether to retain the British Monarch as on the country's Head of State would be held jointly with the parliamentary elections. The introduction of a republic
replacing the current commonwealth system
has been a long-standing promise in the BLP manifesto. However
on 2 December
Ms. Mottley announced that the government had decided to postpone the referendum due to a number of unspecified concerns.
Although two other parties - the Peoples Empowerment Party (PEP) and the People's Democratic Congress (PDC) - were also in the race
opinion polls showed the 2008 elections would be a duel between the BLP and the DLP
led by Mr. David Thompson.
The DLP had launched its election manifesto as early as June 2007
and appealed particularly to young voters. It argued that
after 14 years of BLP government
it was "Time for a Change".
The BLP manifesto included various tax cuts
increased state allowances to the poor and measures to increase home ownership
as well as a health and wellness allowance of 5
000 Barbadian dollars (US$ 2
500) per person. Prime Minister Arthur pledged to bring the country to "full developed status" by 2025. The Prime Minister accused Taiwan of financing the DLP campaign
an accusation strongly denied by the DLP leader
Mr. Thompson.
63.54 per cent of the country's 230
000 registered voters turned out at the polls.
The final results gave 20 seats to the DLP
including five first-time members. The BLP took only ten seats
losing 13
and nine ministers and junior ministers from the outgoing government were not re-elected. Three women were elected.
On 16 January 2008
Mr. Thompson was sworn in as the country's new Prime Minister. On 19 January
he named an 18-member cabinet
which was sworn in on 20 January.
On 12 February
the newly-elected House of Assembly held its opening session and elected Mr. Michael Carrington (DLP) as its new Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 15 January 2008 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
235'510
149'633 (63.54%)
1'071
148'562 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Democratic Labour Party (DLP) |
|
|
|
|
67.00 |
|
|
| Barbados Labour Party (BLP) |
|
|
|
|
33.00 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Labour Party (DLP) |
20
|
|
|
|
|
| Barbados Labour Party (BLP) |
10
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
27
3
10.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Source: Electoral & Boundaries Commission (07.08.2008)
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
