The Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) was a political party in

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

History

The party was established in 1970 by

Percival Austin Bramble Percival Austin Bramble (born January 24, 1931) is a politician from Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West ...

, son of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

and leader of the

Montserrat Labour Party The Montserrat Labour Party (MLP) was a political party in Montserrat. History The party was established in 1951, and was linked with the Montserrat Trades and Labour Union. In the 1952 elections, the first held under universal suffrage, the p ...

(MLP)

William Henry Bramble William Henry Bramble (October 8, 1901 – October 17, 1988), also known as Willy B, was a union leader and a political-party leader from Montserrat; from his Montserrat Labour Party, he was the first Chief Minister of the territory, serving ...

. Percival had previously been a member of the MLP and was elected to the Legislative Council as an MLP candidate in the 1966 elections.Howard A Fergus (1996) ''Gallery Montserrat: Some Prominent People in Our History'', Canoe Press, p124 However, he subsequently broke away to form the PDP as a result of controversy over the number of

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

and

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple i ...

s being built on the island.Robert J Alexander & Eldon M Parker (2004) ''A History of Organized Labor in the English-speaking West Indies'', Greenwood Publishing Group, p144 The 1970 elections were the first occasion on which the MLP had faced serious opposition, and saw the PDP win all seven seats, leaving the MLP without parliamentary representation. Percival Austin Bramble became Chief Minister. The PDP subsequently won five of the seven seats in the 1973 elections, but were defeated in the 1978 elections, when the People's Liberation Movement formed by former PDP minister

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...

won all seven seats. The PDP contested the

1983 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...

, winning two seats in the Legislative Council. It was reduced to one seat in the 1987 elections, and did not contest any further elections.

References

{{Montserratian political parties Defunct political parties in Montserrat Political parties established in 1970 1970 establishments in Montserrat