The Legislative Council was the legislature of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

between 1928 and 1953 and again from 1954 until 1961.

History

The Legislative Council was created by constitutional reforms in 1928, which abolished the 22-member

Combined Court The Combined Court was the legislature of British Guiana until 1928. In its final form, it consisted of a sitting of the Court of Policy together with the elected Financial Representatives. History The Combined Court was established by the Dutch ...

and replaced it with the 30-member Council. The new Council included an extra eight appointees,New constitution of 1928
Guyana.org and consisted of the Governor, two ex-officio members, eight official members, five unofficial members and 14 members elected in single-member constituencies.Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006
Parliament of Guyana The new council met for the first time on 28 November 1928. The first elections were held in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. Due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, elections did not happen again until 1947, with the Council elected in 1935 becoming known as the "Long Parliament". Constitutional amendments in 1943 saw the number of appointed members reduced from 16 to 11, giving the elected members a majority. The 1947 elections were held under this system. As a result of the Waddington Commission, further constitutional reforms were enacted in 1952; universal suffrage was introduced and the Legislative Council was to be replaced by a

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 ...

. The term of the final Legislative Council was extended in order to allow preparations for

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

under the new system on 27 April 1953. The Council was dissolved on 8 April 1953. However, the constitution was suspended on 9 October 1953 and the House of Assembly was prorogued, before being dissolved on 21 December. A wholly appointed Interim Legislative Council was established and met for the first time on 5 January 1954. The Interim Legislative Council had 28 members, including the Speaker, three ex-officio members, four members with portfolio, three members without portfolio, two official members and 15 unofficial members, several of whom had previously been elected members. The Interim Legislative Council remained in place until it was dissolved on 29 June 1957, after which

for a new Legislative Council were held on 12 August. It consisted of the Speaker, three official members, six nominated members and 14 elected members. A new constitution was promulgated in July 1961. It abolished the Legislative Council for a second time, replacing it with a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

including a 13-member

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and a 36-member Legislative Assembly.

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the new Legislature were held on 21 August.

Members

1928–30

1930–53

References

{{reflist Political history of Guyana British Guiana Historical legislatures 1928 establishments in British Guiana 1953 disestablishments in British Guiana 1954 establishments in British Guiana 1961 disestablishments in British Guiana