Political Career
In 1983 Barrow entered electoral politics as a candidate for Belize City Council elections in December 1983, which he won as part of a nine-man slate. He then participated in the December 1984 general election as a candidate for the Queen's Square electoral division against Ralph Fonseca. Barrow defeated Fonseca handily and was nominated to Cabinet as Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the 1989 general election, Barrow defeated Thomas Greenwood but his party lost the election. Barrow continued in his law practice. In 1990, he became Deputy Party Leader to Manuel Esquivel after the death of the Hon. Curl Thompson. In 1993, Barrow won his third straight general election, over Juliet Soberanis, and returned to Cabinet in the posts he held from the previous administration in addition to Minister of National Security. His detractors called him "Minister of Everything" during this period because he appeared at most major functions on behalf of the UDP government.
After the 1998 elections loss in which he was one of only three representatives who retained a seat for the UDP, Barrow was elevated to Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition, replacing Manuel Esquivel in both positions. Barrow has presided over the smallest Oppositions (3 and 7 respectively) in the House of Representatives since 1974 and ever in the UDP's history. Barrow has won his last two elections by closer margins than his previous elections over attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley.
Barrow was re-elected for the sixth time in 2008 against the PUP's Anthony Sylvester and Ebony Babb of the NRTCP.
Read more about this topic: Dean Barrow
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