The People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP), abbreviated as the People's Party, is a political party in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

established on 8 June 2019 and led by

Joseph Atherley Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley (born 26 February 1954) is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the People's Party for Demo ...

. At its foundation, it served as the main opposition party in both houses of the Barbadian Parliament, with one seat in 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 ...

and two seats in the

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 ...

from 8 June 2019 till 19 January 2022.

Background

The initial grouping emerged shortly after the 2018 general elections, where the

Barbados Labour Party The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. Led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, it is the governing party of Barbados and the sole ruling party i ...

(BLP) defeated the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to win all 30 seats in the

. This result left vacant the position of

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 the two seats held by the second largest party in the

. On 31 May 2018,

, who had been elected for St. Michael West, announced that he would be leaving the party to become Leader of the Opposition, which enabled him to advise on the appointment of the two minority Senators. He rejected suggestions of joining the DLP, and decided to proceed as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. On 8 June 2019, Atherley publicly launched an opposition party, the People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP). With the slogan "God, Growth, and Peace", the party would be

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

in orientation. Atherley revealed that the PdP had been initially founded on 1 November 2018. As of the party's foundation, Atherley was the only PdP member of the House of Assembly, which automatically made him Leader of the Opposition. Crystal Drakes and Caswell Franklyn represent the party in the Senate. On 27 December 2021,

Prime Minister of Barbados The prime minister of Barbados is the head of government of Barbados. The prime minister is appointed by the President of Barbados, president under the terms of the Constitution of Barbados, Constitution. As the nominal holder of executive aut ...

Mia Mottley Mia Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold ...

dissolved parliament and called elections for 19 January 2022. The next week, on the 31 December 2021, Atherley and Lynette Eastmond of the United Progressive Party announced an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

between their two parties to contest the 2022 general elections as the

Alliance Party for Progress The Alliance Party for Progress (APP) is a Christian and social democratic electoral alliance in Barbados. It was formed on the 30 December 2021 by the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) to ...

. It is headed by Atherley with Eastmond becoming deputy head. After the 2022 general elections, the party lost its sole seat in the House of Assembly and was reduced from being the main opposition party to being extra-parliamentary.

Electoral History

For

2022 Barbadian general election General elections were held in Barbados on 19 January 2022 to elect the 30 members of the House of Assembly. The ruling Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats for the second consecutive election. This was the 12th national election held since i ...

, the PdP formed an electoral alliance with the

United Progressive Party (Barbados) The United Progressive Party is a political party in Barbados. The party was announced in February, 2017 to coincide with the May 2018 general election cycle. The lead Chairperson is the Attorney-at-Law and former Senator and Minister with the ...

(UPP) and formed the

and ran under that banner.

References

External links

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