Prime Minister of the Bahamas

The prime minister of the Bahamas is the head of government of the Bahamas. The prime minister is formally appointed into office by the governor-general of the Bahamas, who represents Charles III, the king of the Bahamas (the Bahamian head of state).

The following article contains a list of prime ministers of the Bahamas, from the establishment of the position of chief minister of the Bahamas Islands in 1955 to the present day.

Under section 72 of the Constitution of the Bahamas, the Governor-General of the Bahamas must appoint "the member of the House of Assembly who is the leader of the party which commands the support of the majority of the members of that House". In the event of a hung parliament, the governor-general should appoint the member who is "most likely to command the support of the majority of members of that House".

I, _________________________, being appointed Prime Minister, do swear that I will to the best of my judgment, 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 the Bahamas, 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 the Bahamas, 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 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. So help me God.

The prime minister of the Bahamas is the head of the government of the Bahamas. The duties of the prime minister include:

• Office of the Prime Minister
• Department of Lands and Surveys
• Government Printing Department
• Department of Statistics
• Bahamas Information Services
• National Economic Council
• Promotion and facilitation of investment
• Development in the Family Islands

Agencies under the prime minister include:

• Department of Lands and Surveys
• Lands and Surveying
• Acquiring Land
• Department of Local Government
• Relations with Local Government Agencies
• Local improvement associations

Political parties

This is a graphical lifespan timeline of the prime ministers of the Bahamas. They are listed in order of first assuming office.

The following chart lists prime ministers by lifespan (living prime ministers on the green line), with the years outside of their tenure in beige.

The position was formally established on 20 February 1968.

• Arthur Dion "A.D" Hanna 1968–1984

• Clement T. Maynard 1985–1992

• Orville Turnquest 1992–1995

• Frank Watson 1995–2002

• Cynthia A. Pratt 2002–2007

• Brent Symonette 2007–2012

• Philip Davis 2012–2017

• Peter Turnquest 2017–2020

• Desmond Bannister 2020–2021

• Chester Cooper 2021–present

• List of governors of the Bahamas

• Governor-General of the Bahamas

• List of heads of state of the Bahamas

• List of prime ministers of Elizabeth II

• List of prime ministers of Charles III

• List of Commonwealth heads of government

• List of Privy Counsellors (1952–2022)

• List of Privy Counsellors (2022–present)

• http://www.rulers.org/rulb1.html#bahamas

• https://web.archive.org/web/20041017033939/http://www.hk-bahamas.de/en/parties.php

• http://www.politicalresources.net/bahamas.htm

• Guinness Book of Kings Rulers & Statesmen, Clive Carpenter, Guinness Superlatives Ltd