Barbara Webster-Bourne is the current Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly since 17 July 2020. She also held the post between 27 February 2010 and 11 May 2015

Career

She ran on three occasions for the Island Harbour

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

. First for the

Anguilla Democratic Party The Anguilla Democratic Party was a political party in Anguilla. At the 21 February 2005 elections, the party first became part of the Anguilla United Front The Anguilla United Front is an alliance of political parties in Anguilla. At election ...

in the 1999 general election and then as an independent candidate in both the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and 2005 general elections. Following the

2010 Anguillan general election General elections were held in Anguilla on 15 February 2010. Seven seats in the House of Assembly were contested in the election. The incumbent Chief Minister of Anguilla Osbourne Fleming chose to retire and not stand for election. Fleming was ...

, Webster-Bourne was voted in as the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

on 27 February, the first time a woman had held the post in Anguilla's history. She replaced outgoing speaker David Carty. The

Governor of Anguilla The Governor of Anguilla is the representative of the monarch in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The Governor is the highest authority on Anguill ...

, Alistair Harrison, said of her appointment, "I believe that she holds one of the most difficult jobs in Anguilla and I wish her well in her important duties." In 2012, she admonished the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly,

Leroy Rogers Leroy or Le Roy may refer to: People * Leroy (name), a given name and surname * Leroy (musician), American musician * Leroy (sailor), French sailor Places United States * Leroy, Alabama * Le Roy, Illinois * Le Roy, Iowa * Le Roy, Kansas * Le ...

, after he criticised her publicly on

Radio Anguilla Radio Anguilla is a publicly owned radio station broadcasting to the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla from studios in The Valley on 95.5 FM. The station is owned and operated by the Government of Anguilla and is the oldest radio station bro ...

. He claimed that during the passage of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Amendment Bill 2011, that Webster-Bourne should have had no opinion on whether one of the offences proposed should have been included. She reminded him that the office of speaker is non-political, but under the Anguilla Constitution Order 1982 she has such rights. In the following year, she had a public falling out with members of the opposition party who accused of not remaining neutral and allowing the ruling party the ability to legislate how they wished. She responded with a public letter published in '' The Anguillian'', to which they said that they would place a motion of no-confidence in her within the House of Assembly. This was all part of an ongoing unrest between Webster-Bourne and the opposition party, whose leader,

Evans McNiel Rogers Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

, she had removed from the chamber on multiple occasions. Following the

2015 Anguillan general election General elections were held in Anguilla on 22 April 2015. The result was a victory for the Anguilla United Front alliance, which won six of the seven elected seats in the House of Assembly. The ruling Anguilla United Movement failed to win a seat ...

, Webster-Bourne was replaced by her deputy, Leroy Rogers, as speaker on 11 May 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster-Bourne, Barbara Living people Speakers of the House of Assembly of Anguilla Members of the House of Assembly of Anguilla Anguillan women in politics 21st-century British women politicians Women legislative speakers Year of birth missing (living people)