House of Assembly of Barbados

The Honourable the House of Assembly of Barbados in Parliament assembled
Type
Type Lower House
Leadership
Speaker Michael A. Carrington
since 15 January 2008
Leader John D. E. Boyce, (Democratic Labour Party - DLP)
since 12 February 2008
Leader of the Opposition Owen S. Arthur, (Barbados Labour Party - BLP)
since 18 October 2010
Members 30
Political groups

Her Majesty's Government

HM Loyal Opposition

Other parties in opposition

  • UNK (1)
Elections
Last election 15 January 2008
Next election no later than January 2013
Meeting place
House of Assembly chamber
Bridgetown,
St. Michael,
Barbados, West Indies
Website
http://www.barbadosparliament.com/the_house_of_assembly.php
Barbados

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Barbados

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The House of Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. It has 30 Members of Parliament (MPs), MPs are directly elected in single member constituencies using the simple-majority (or First-past-the-post) system for a term of five years.

The Barbadian House of Assembly chamber is located in the east-wing of The Public Buildings on Broad Street, in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Speaker of the House becomes the thirty-first member when there is a tie vote.

Contents

Oath or affirmation

Under section 59 of the constitution, before entering upon the functions of his or her office, the MPs must take the oath of allegiance and the oath of office. According to the "First Schedule" section of the Constitution of Barbados, the official Oath of office for the Prime Minister, Ministers of Parliament, and Parliamentary Secretaries of Barbados is as follows:

“ I, _________________________, being appointed (Prime Minister/Minister/Parliamentary Secretary), do swear that I will do the best of my judgement, at all times when so required, freely give my counsel and advice to the Governor General (or any other person for the time being lawfully performing the functions of that office) for the good management of the public affairs of Barbados, and I do further swear that I will not on any account, at any time whatsoever, disclose the counsel, advice, opinion or vote of any particular Minister or Parliamentary Secretary and that I will not, except with the authority of the Cabinet and to such extent as may be required for the good management of the affairs of Barbados, directly or indirectly reveal the business or proceedings of the Cabinet or the nature or contents of any documents communicated to me as (Prime Minister/Minister/Parliamentary Secretary) or any matter coming to my knowledge in my capacity as such and that in all things I will be a true and faithful (Prime Minister/Minister/Parliamentary Secretary), so Help me God. ”

Latest election

e • d Summary of the 15 January 2008 Barbados House of Assembly election results
Parties Votes % Seats
Democratic Labour Party 70,135 53.21 20
Barbados Labour Party 61,316 46.52 10
People's Empowerment Party 198 0.15 —
Independents 129 0.10 —
People's Democratic Congress 28 0.02 —
Total valid votes 131,806 100.00 30
Source: The Nation

Previous elections

In previous elections the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Barbados National Party (BNP), the Conservatives and Independents also won seats besides the two big parties - the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). The DLP which had been in opposition since 1994, won a surprise victory of 20 seats to 10, on January 16, 2008 DLP leader David Thompson (Barbadian politician) was sworn in as the 6th Prime Minister of Barbados.

election BLP DLP NDP BNP Conservatives Independents
15 January 2008 10 20
21 May 2003 23 7
21 May 2003 23 7
20 January 1999 26 2
5 September 1994 19 8 1
21 January 1991 10 18
28 January 1986 3 24
1981 17 10
1976 17 7
1971 6 18
3 November 1966 8 14 2
1961 4 14 4 2
1956 15 4 4 1

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