The Progressive Liberal Party (

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

PLP) is a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

and

social liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

party in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. Philip Davis is the leader of the party.

History

The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright,

Cyril Stevenson Cyril St. John Stevenson (July 13, 1914 – November 6, 2006) was a Bahamian politician and newspaper publisher. Stevenson, Sir Henry Milton Taylor and William Cartwright, co-founded the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in 1953, the first national ...

, and

Henry Milton Taylor Sir Henry Milton Taylor (4 November 1903 – 14 February 1994) was the fourth governor-general of the Bahamas, serving from February 28, 1991 to January 2, 1992. Biography Sir Henry, the adopted son of Joseph J. Taylor and Evelyn Taylor, w ...

. The PLP was the first national political party in the Bahamas. The party governed for 25 straight years from 1967 to 1992, as well as from 2002 to 2007 and 2012 to 2017. Leading the party to its first victory in 1967 was

Lynden Pindling Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, NH, KCMG, PC, JP (22 March 193026 August 2000) was a Bahamian politician who is regarded as the "Father of the Nation" of the Bahamas, having led it to majority rule on 10 January 1967 and to independence on 10 Jul ...

, the country's first Prime Minister. Perry Christie was Prime Minister of the Bahamas between 2 May 2002 and the 2007 general elections when the party was defeated by the rival

Free National Movement The Free National Movement (abbreviated FNM) is a political party in The Bahamas formed in the early 1970s, led by Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and his deputy Peter Turnquest. It dominated the ...

(FNM) which won 23 seats. The FNM installed leader

Hubert Ingraham The Right Honourable Hubert Alexander Ingraham, PC (born 4 August 1947) is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002 and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Moveme ...

as the Prime Minister. After defeat and one of its MPs leaving the party since, the PLP held 17 of the 41 seats in the

Bahamas National Assembly The Parliament of the Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign (represented by the governor-general), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Ass ...

. In the 2012 general election, the Progressive Liberals won a solid majority in a

landslide election A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

victory, taking 29 of the 38 seats in parliament. Christie was sworn into office on 8 May 2012. Hubert Ingraham announced his retirement from politics following the defeat of his party. In September 2021, the PLP defeated the ruling FNM in a snap

election 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 opera ...

, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971. Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. Free National Movement (FNM) took the remaining seats. On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Philip Davis was sworn in as the new

Prime Minister of Bahamas The prime minister of the Bahamas is the head of government of the Bahamas. The prime minister is formally appointed into office by the governor-general of the Bahamas, who represents Charles III, the king of the Bahamas (the Bahamian head of s ...

to succeed

Hubert Minnis Hubert Alexander Minnis, ON (born 16 April 1954) is a Bahamian politician and doctor who served as Prime Minister of the Bahamas from May 2017 to 16 September 2021. Minnis is the leader of the Free National Movement, the former governing party, ...

Electoral results

References

External links

* Political parties in the Bahamas Liberal parties in North America Social liberal parties Political parties established in 1953 1953 establishments in the Bahamas {{Bahamas-stub