Barbados Labour Party

Barbados Labour Party
Leader Mia Mottley, M.P.
Founder Sir Grantley Adams
Founded 31 March 1938
Headquarters Grantley Adams House,
111 Roebuck Street,
Bridgetown, Barbados
Youth wing League of Young Socialists
Ideology Social democracy
Democratic socialism
Republicanism
Political position Centre-left
International affiliation None
Colours Red and Gold
House of Assembly
30 / 30
Website
www.blp.org.bb

The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is the main party of government of Barbados which was established in 1938. Led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, the BLP holds all 30 of the 30 seats that make up the House of Assembly as of May 2018. It was elected to government on 25 May 2018 after 10 years in opposition, with Mottley becoming the country's first female Prime Minister.

In common with Barbados' other major party, the Democratic Labour Party or "Dems", the BLP is a broadly centre-left social-democratic party, with local politics being largely personality-driven and responsive to contemporary issues and the state of the economy. The BLP is a former observer member of the Socialist International.[1]

History

Originally called the Barbados Progressive League until 1944, the original 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. The party was the organization vehicle for the political movement brought on by the unrest of 1937 and which ultimately resulted in a better living conditions. The objectives of the founders included adult suffrage, free education, and better housing and health care. It 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.

Grantley Adams House, the party's current headquarters, Bridgetown

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).[2] After the election, Arthur stepped down as BLP leader and was replaced by former Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who also became Opposition Leader.[3]

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.

Electoral results

Election Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
1966 47,610 32.6
8 / 24
 Increase 3 Steady 2nd Opposition
1971 39,376 42.4
6 / 24
 Decrease 2 Steady 2nd Opposition
1976 51,948 52.7
17 / 24
 Increase 11 Increase 1st Majority
1981 61,883 52.2
17 / 27
 Steady 0 Steady 1st Majority
1986 54,367 40.4
3 / 27
 Decrease 14 Decrease 2nd Opposition
1991 51,789 43.0
10 / 28
 Increase 7 Steady 2nd Opposition
1994 60,504 48.3
19 / 28
 Increase 9 Increase 1st Majority
1999 83,445 64.9
26 / 28
 Increase 7 Steady 1st Majority
2003 69,294 55.9
23 / 30
 Decrease 3 Steady 1st Majority
2008 61,316 46.5
10 / 30
 Decrease 13 Decrease 2nd Opposition
2013 74,121 48.2
14 / 30
 Decrease 4 Steady 2nd Opposition
2018 111,968 74.6
30 / 30
 Increase 16 Increase 1st Majority

2018 candidates

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.

Social outreach

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 to replaced the Liberal, Democrat or Conservative political positions.

References

  • F. A. Hoyes. The Rise of West Indian Democracy: The Life and Times of Sir Grantley Adams. Advocate Press (1963).
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