The People's Democratic Movement is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

founded by James Alexander George Smith McCartney and Lewis Edwin Astwood III. The party is led by the current opposition leader,

Edwin Astwood Edwin Andre Astwood (born 24 August 1973) is a politician from the Turks and Caicos Islands who has been Leader of the Opposition since February 2021 and Leader of the PDM party since June 2021. He served as Minister of Health, Agriculture and Hu ...

. According to the PDM's website, the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) is the oldest established political organization in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Founded in October 1975, the PDM was the first party to be elected to head the Government. At the 2003

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

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 ...

, the party won 7 out of 13 seats. It lost two of these seats at a by-election on 7 August 2003. In the 9 February 2007

the party won only 2 out of 15 seats. In July 2012,

Oswald Skippings Oswald O'Neil Skippings (born 19 February 1953) is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 19 June 1980 to 4 November 1980 and again from 3 March 1988 to 3 April 1991. Skip ...

was elected as the leader of the PDM, while

Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson Sharlene Linette Cartwright-Robinson Justice of the Peace, JP (born 4 September 1971) is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician and lawyer who served as the 4th Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 20 December 2016 to 20 February 2021. S ...

defeated Sean Astwood to become the party's first-ever female deputy leader. The party fielded 15 candidates in the 2012 election. On November 9, 2012 the PDM was defeated by the PNP and Oswald Skippings stepped down as leader.

Electoral performance

References

Political parties in the Turks and Caicos Islands 1975 establishments in the Turks and Caicos Islands Political parties established in 1975 Liberal parties in British Overseas Territories {{TurksCaicos-stub