Members of the house of representatives are popularly elected by the first-past-the-post system for a five-year term. The prime minister is chosen by the governor-general on the basis of which person commands majority support in the House.

History

The original inhabitants of Antigua and Barbuda were Carib Indians. The first Europeans to visit Antigua were with Christopher Columbus in 1493, although they did not go ashore. He named the island after the church of Santa María de la Antigua at Seville. Antigua was first colonized by Britain in 1632. Charles II leased Barbuda in 1685 to the Codrington family, who ran a sugar plantation on Antigua. Barbuda was a source of stock and provisions for the plantation and was inhabited almost entirely by black slaves, who used the relatively barren land cooperatively. The Codringtons finally surrendered the lease in 1870. Barbuda reverted to the crown in the later 19th century. The Antiguan slaves were freed in 1834 but remained poor, totally dependent on the sugar crop market. Between 1860 and 1959 the islands were administered by Britain within a federal system known as the Leeward Islands. Antigua and Barbuda was made an associated state of the UK and given full internal independence in 1967, with Britain retaining responsibility for defence and foreign affairs. Barbuda, with a population of about 1,200 people, started a separatist movement in 1969, fearing that Antigua would sell Barbudan land to foreign developers.

Independence from Britain

In the 1971 general election, the Progressive Labour Movement (PLM) won a decisive victory, and its leader, George Walter, replaced Vere Bird, leader of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), as prime minister. The PLM fought the 1976 election on a call for early independence while the ALP urged caution until a firm economic foundation had been laid. The ALP won and declared in 1978 that the country was ready for independence.

Opposition from the inhabitants of Barbuda delayed the start of constitutional talks, and the territory eventually became independent as Antigua and Barbuda in 1981.

Ruling ALP retains hold on power

Despite its policy of non-alignment, the ALP government actively assisted the US invasion of Grenada in 1983 and went on to win 16 of the 17 seats in the 1984 general election. In the 1989 general election Bird and the ALP again won a sweeping victory, but in 1990 his government was tarnished by allegations that one of his sons, a cabinet minister, was involved in illegal arms deals. Calls by parliament for Bird's resignation in 1991 were unsuccessful but in 1993 he stepped down and, after a close election, was succeeded by his younger son, Lester, who went on to lead the ALP to victory in the 1994 general election. Lester Bird and the ALP, which dominated the media, remained in power a further decade, winning the 1999 general election.

UPP wins power

In 1992, the United Progressive Party (UPP) was formed through a merger of the Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement, the Progressive Labour Movement, and the United National Democratic Party. It made gradual progress at elections and, with the economy faltering because of a slowdown in tourism, in 2004 it won 55% of the vote and 12 of the 17 seats in the House of Representatives. The ALP lost 8 seats including that held by Lester Bird, and the UPP leader, Baldwin Spencer, became prime minister.

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Official Guide to Antigua and Barbuda