Barbados Labour Party

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, 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.

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.

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). 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.

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.

After a decade in opposition, the BLP returned to power on 25 May 2018 under Mia Mottley, who became Barbados'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) and the leader of the opposition on 2 June 2018.

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.

In February 2024, BLP MP Ralph Thorne left the party, crossing the floor and becoming Leader of the Opposition. He joined the DLP shortly thereafter, becoming the party's leader its the first MP since 2018.

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

West Indies election

2018 candidates

• Wilfred Abrahams (Christ Church East)
• William Duguid (Christ Church West)
• Rev. Joseph Atherley (St. Michael West)
• Colin Jordan (St. Peter)
• Jeffrey Bostic (The City of Bridgetown)
• Santia Bradshaw (St. Michael South East)
• Gline Clarke (St. George North)
• Adrian "Medic" Forde (Christ Church West Central)
• John King (St. Philip West)
• Ian Gooding-Edghill (St. Michael West Central)
• Cynthia Forde (St. Thomas)
• Marsha K. Caddle (St. Michael South Central)
• Charles Griffith (St. John)
• Edmund Hinkson (St. James North)
• Arthur Holder (St. Michael Central)
• Sandra Husbands (St. James South)
• Kirk Humphrey (St. Michael South)
• Dale Marshall (St. Joseph)
• Mia Mottley (St. Michael North East)
• Neil Rowe (St. Michael North West)
• George Payne (St. Andrew)
• Peter Phillips (St. Lucy)
• Trevor Prescod (St. Michael East)
• Ryan Straughn (Christ Church East Central)
• Dwight Sutherland (St. George South)
• Kerrie Symmonds (St. James Central)
• Ronald Toppin (St. Michael North)
• Dr. Ralph Thorne (Christ Church South)
• Sonia Browne (St. Philip North)
• Indar Weir (St. Philip South)

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. The BLP uses several forms of Internet mediums to reach out to new and existing supporters. This includes: Google+, Facebook, and Twitter feeds. Many live meetings of the party are streamed live via UStream or YouTube.

A "Labour" political party is an amalgam of various trade unions and socialist groups, generally supporting the interests of organized labour and advocating democratic socialism and social equality, bringing together an alliance of social democratic, democratic socialist and trade unionist outlooks. Considered a left-of-centre political party formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people, in particular arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century.

References

References

1. ''Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society'', Vol. 44 (1998).
2. "Member Parties of the Socialist International.".
3. Gordon Lewis, ''The Growth of the Modern West Indies'', New York, 1972.
4. Keith Hunte, ''Emancipation III: Aspects of the Post-Slavery Experience of Barbados'', 1988.
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080120223244/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/17/content_7440232.htm "Thompson sworn in as Barbados PM"], Xinhua, 17 January 2008.
6. Trevor Yearwood, [http://www.nationnews.com/story/340622492722919.php "MIA takes over"], ''Nation News'', 20 January 2008. {{webarchive. link. (23 January 2008 ''Nation News'', 24 January 2008.)
7. "Barbados General Election Results 2018".
8. (7 September 2020). "Atherley defends move to start new party". [[The Barbados Advocate]].
9. (2 June 2018). "Bishop Atherley now Leader of the Opposition". [[The Barbados Advocate]].
10. "Barbados PM hails governing party's landslide election victory". www.aljazeera.com.
11. (19 February 2024). "#BREAKING - CBC: Barbados Leader of Opposition Ralph Thorne announced as the new Political Leader of the Democratic Labour Party - granting the party its first seat in Parliament since 2018. Dr Ronnie Yearwood will remain DLP President".
12. (27 March 1958). "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Mar 27, 1958, p. 20". NewspaperArchive.com.