History
Originally called the Barbados Progressive League, the Barbados Labour 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 peaceful transfer of power. 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 then 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 1994-2008, which was commonly called the "Owen Arthur Administration". Former Prime Minister Owen S. 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, who 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 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.
Read more about this topic: Barbados Labour Party
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