The prime minister of the Bahamas is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The prime minister is formally appointed into office by the

governor-general of the Bahamas The governor-general of the Bahamas is the vice-regal representative of the Bahamian monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prim ...

, who represents

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, the

king of the Bahamas The monarchy of the Bahamas is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The current Bahamian monarch and head of state since 8 September 2022, is King Charles ...

(the Bahamian

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

). The following article contains a list of prime ministers of the Bahamas, from the establishment of the position of chief minister of the Bahama Islands in 1955 to the present day.

Constitutional basis

Under section 72 of the

constitution of the Bahamas A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

, the

must appoint "the member 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 ...

who is the leader of the party which commands the support of the majority of the members of that House". In the event of a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...

, the governor-general should appoint the member who is "most likely to command the support of the majority of members of that House".

Official oath of office

Office of the Prime Minister

The prime minister of the Bahamas is the head of the

government of the Bahamas The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy headed by King Charles III in his role as King of the Bahamas. The politics of the Bahamas takes place within a framework of parliamentary democracy, with a Prime Minister as the Head of Gover ...

. The duties of the prime minister include: * Office of the Prime Minister * Department of Lands and Surveys * Government Printing Department * Department of Statistics * Bahamas Information Services * National Economic Council * Promotion and facilitation of investment * Development in the Family Islands Agencies under the prime minister include: * Department of Lands and Surveys * Lands and Surveying * Acquiring Land * Department of Local Government * Relations with Local Government Agencies * Local improvement associations

List of heads of government of the Bahamas (1955–present)

Chief minister of the Bahama Islands (1955–1964)

Premiers of the Bahama Islands (1964–1969)

Prime minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands (1969–1973)

Prime ministers of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (1973–present)

Deputy prime ministers

* Arthur Dion "A.D" Hanna 1967–1984 *

Clement T. Maynard Hon. Sir Clement T. Maynard, (11 September 1928 – 2 October 2009), was a Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas (1985–92),

1985–1992 *

Orville Turnquest Sir Orville Alton Turnquest (born 19 July 1928) is a politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Bahamas from 1992 to 1994, and the sixth governor-general of the Bahamas from 3 January 1995 until his retirement on 13 ...

1992–1995 * Frank Watson 1995–2002 *

Cynthia A. Pratt Cynthia A. "Mother" Pratt (born 5 November 1945) is the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas. She attained the office when the Progressive Liberal Party came to power in the national elections of 2002. She is a Protestant minister and ...

1947-1948 *

Brent Symonette Theodore Brent Symonette (born 2 December 1954) is a Bahamian businessman and Free National Movement politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for St. Anne's from 2007 to 2012 and 2017 to 2021. In his first term, he served as Deputy Prime ...

2007–2012 * Philip Davis 2012–2017 *

Peter Turnquest Kevin Peter Turnquest (born August 22, 1964) is a Bahamian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from May 15, 2017 to November 25, 2020. He is a Certified Public accountant. He was the deputy leader of the Free ...

2017–2020 *

Desmond Bannister Desmond or Desmond's may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Desmond (novel), ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith * ''Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom Ireland * Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom * Earl of ...

2020–2021 *

Chester Cooper Isaac Chester Cooper (born 29 July 1970) is a Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas to Philip Davis and Minister of Tourism and Aviation since September 2021. He has been the Member of Par ...

2021–present

References

*http://www.rulers.org/rulb1.html#bahamas *https://web.archive.org/web/20041017033939/http://www.hk-bahamas.de/en/parties.php *http://www.politicalresources.net/bahamas.htm *''Guinness Book of Kings Rulers & Statesmen, Clive Carpenter, Guinness Superlatives Ltd'' {{Prime Minister

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

Heads of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...