House of Assembly (Barbados)
| House of Assembly | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
|
Michael A. Carrington
Since 15 January 2008 |
|
| Structure | |
| Seats | 30 |
 |
|
|
Political groups
|
Other parties in opposition |
| Elections | |
|
Last election
|
21 February 2013 |
|
Next election
|
no later than May 2018 |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| House of Assembly chamber Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados, West Indies |
|
| Website | |
| The House of Assembly | |
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 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.
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:
According to article 61 of the Constitution of Barbados, general elections to the House of Assembly must take place no later than five years after the opening of parliament following the latest election. Following the 2013 election the current parliament was opened on 6 March means the next election must take place or before this date in 2018.
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. Freundel Stuart was sworn in, in 2010 because of the death of the Prime Minister David Thompson. Freundel Stuart was sworn in on February 23, 2013 by obtaining sixteen out of thirty seat. Elections 2013 was one of the closest election Barbados has every seen.
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