General elections were held in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

on 27 March 1961. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p307

Eric Gairy Sir Eric Matthew Gairy PC (18 February 192223 August 1997) was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from his country's independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979. Gairy also served as head of governme ...

Grenada United Labour Party The Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) is a political party in Grenada. History The party was founded by Eric Gairy in 1950. It contested the first elections held under universal suffrage in 1951, and won six of the eight seats. Nohlen, D (2005) ...

won eight of the ten seats, his wife Cynthia Gairy becoming the first woman to be elected to the legislature. George E.D. Clyne of GULP became Chief Minister and served from March to August 1961 when, following the direct intervention of the British government, Gairy's political ban was lifted early, and Clyne resigned allowing Gairy to return in a by-election and become Chief Minister. Voter turnout was 55.5%.

Background

Following the introduction of the new Constitution on 21 December 1959 real authority for governing the country was given to a

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

and those from the majority party in the Legislative Council.

Herbert Blaize Herbert Augustus Blaize PC (26 February 1918 – 19 December 1989) was a Grenadian politician and leader of the Grenada National Party. When Grenada was still a British Crown Colony he served as the first Chief Minister from 1960 to 1961, ...

was appointed the first Chief Minister from 1 January 1960 when the Legislative Council provisions took effect. The Constitution stipulated that at the next election the Legislature would consist of ten elected members and two nominated members. The Queen was represented by an

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

with reduced powers. Grenada's Administrator at this time was James Lloyd, a Jamaican.Steele, p360 Gairy, the leader of GULP, had been banned from political activity for five years for disrupting an opponent's political meeting on 28 October 1957, by leading a steel band through it. He was not eligible to be a candidate in 1961. Administrator James Lloyd would not raise the ban early.

Results

References

{{Grenadian elections Elections in Grenada 1961 elections in the Caribbean 1961 in Grenada West Indies Federation March 1961 events in North America