The Senate of Bermuda is the upper house of the

Parliament of Bermuda The Parliament of Bermuda is the bicameral legislature in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. The two houses are: * The House of Assembly which has 36 members, elected for a five-year term in single seat constituencies. * The Senate which ...

, the other being 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 ...

. The Senate consists of eleven members appointed by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for five-year terms — five Senators are nominated by the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, three by the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

, and three appointed at the discretion of the Governor. Of the three appointed by the Governor, the Senate elects one to serve as the President, and another to serve as the Vice President. The Senate serves as a house of review and serves as a road-block to constitutional change — the constitution requires a 2/3 super-majority (i.e., 8 votes) for a constitutional amendment, requiring the support of both the government and opposition appointees. The presiding officer of the Senate is the President of the Senate. Carol Bassett, who has been a Senator since 2003, was elected President in 2008, the first woman elected to the office. She resigned the office in August 2017.Carol Bassett Retires As Senate President
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Current members

The members of the Senate appointed in August 2017 were: The three Independents were: * Joan Dillas-Wright * James Jardine * Michelle Simmons Government/PLP nominees: * Anthony Richardson * Jason Hayward * Kathy Simmons * Crystal Caesar, and * Vance Campbell. Opposition/OBA nominees were: * Nandi Outerbridge * Nicholas Kempe, and * Andrew Simons.

History

Bermuda's Parliament was created in 1620, and originally had one house, the House of Assembly. Political parties were not legal, and the role now performed by the Senate was originally performed by an appointed council, called the Governor's Council, or Privy Council. The council also performed the role that today belongs to the Cabinet (the Cabinet is composed of Ministers appointed from elected Members of Parliament from the House of Assembly). Historically, the Council, composed of members of Bermuda's wealthy merchant class, had been the true centre of power, rather than the elected House of Assembly, or the Governor despatched from overseas. During periods when the colony was without a Governor, the President of the Council would be Acting Governor. The balance of power began to shift away from the Council in the 19th century, when Bermuda assumed a new importance in Imperial security, and when the Governor became also the Commander-in-Chief of the naval establishment and military garrison. In May, 1888, the Privy Council was split into an Executive Council, which later became the Cabinet, and a Legislative Council, which became the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

of Parliament (equivalent to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

in the

Westminster Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

), both with senior military and civil servants as members, and also with members appointed by the Governor from the House of Assembly. On the split, the President of the old Council, the Chief Justice of Bermuda (Sir Josiah Rees), became the President of the Legislative council. In 1968, largely as a result of the civil rights movement, a new Constitution was introduced which made a number of changes to Bermuda's parliamentary system, making it more like the Westminster system. Political parties were legalised, and the system of a

Responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

, from which a Premier was appointed and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Ministers were drawn, and a minority opposition was adopted. The

property qualification A property qualification is a clause or rule by which those without property (land), or those without property of a set appraised value, or those without income of a set value, are not enfranchised to vote in elections, to stand for election, to ...

was abolished and the system of

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

, by which the members of the lower house were elected, and which had historically been limited to male landowners, was finally extended to all adults. The Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet in 1973, and is now formed from Members of the majority party in the House of Assembly. The Legislative Council was renamed the Senate of Bermuda in 1980, and is now composed of five Members recommended by the Premier, three by the Leader of the Opposition, and three by the Governor acting in his own discretion, all appointed by the Governor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senate Of Bermuda

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Politics of Bermuda Political organisations based in Bermuda

Current members

History

See also

References