House of Assembly of Barbados


The House of Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. It has 30 Members of Parliament, MPs are directly elected in single member constituencies using the simple-majority system for a term of five years. The House of Assembly sits roughly 40-45 days a year.
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.

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:

Next election

The Constitution of Barbados reads, in part:
The previous Parliament first sat on 6 March 2013, and was constitutionally dissolved on 6 March 2018. The next election is constitutionally required to be held in 2023 at the latest.

Latest elections

With a single party elected to all 30 seats, Bishop Joseph Atherley chose to become an independent politician and take the role of official Leader of the Opposition.

Previous elections

In previous elections the National Democratic Party, the Barbados National Party, the Conservatives and Independents also won seats besides the two big parties - the Barbados Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party. The DLP had been in opposition since 6 September 1994. Fourteen years later when they won a surprise victory of 20 seats to 10 on 15 January 2008, DLP Leader David Thompson was sworn in as the 6th Prime Minister of Barbados. Freundel Stuart was sworn in on 23 October 2010 because of the death of the Prime Minister Thompson, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2010. Two months later in May 2010 he became ill when the then Acting Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had started, and five months later he was sworn in on 23 October 2010 as the 7th Prime Minister of Barbados. On 23 February 2013 he was sworn in as the 7th Prime Minister of Barbados by obtaining sixteen out of thirty seats. The general elections of 21 February 2013 were one of the closest election Barbados has ever seen.
Election BLP DLP NDP ConservativesIndependents
24 May 201830
21 February 20131416
15 January 20081020
21 May 2003237
20 January 1999262
6 September 19941981
21 January 19911018
28 May 1986324
18 June 19811710
2 September 1976177
9 September 1971618
3 November 19668142
4 December 196151441
6 December 195615432
13 December 19511011