Sir Randol Francis Fawkes (20 March 1924 – 15 June 2000)Biography - Randol Fawkes fansite
/ref>Strike that stirred the nation - ''Tribune'' - 23 February 2009
/ref> was a Bahamian politician,

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

and lawyer. He served as Member of Parliament for the St. Barnabas constituency and for a short time as a Cabinet Minister in the first Pindling government. Fawkes was knighted by the Queen in her

1977 Birthday Honours The 1977 Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours were announced on 11 June 1977 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee and Birthday in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, Mauritius, Fiji, the Bahamas, Grenada, and ...

1967 General Election

Fawkes is best remembered for the part he played in swinging the Bahamas' 1967 general election to bring about black "majority rule". In 1967, the Bahamas was a British colony ruled, despite its approximately 85% black population, by a white elite known as the Bay Street Boys.Bad News for the Boys - ''Time Magazine'' - 20 January 1967
/ref> The predominantly white

United Bahamian Party The United Bahamian Party (UBP) was a major political party in the Bahamas in the 1950s and 1960s. Representing the interests of the white oligarchy known as the Bay Street Boys, it was the ruling party between 1958 and 1967.Dieter Nohlen (2005), ...

(UBP) government called a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

in January 1967. Of the 38 seats contested, the ruling UBP won 18 seats and the black

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party ( abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton T ...

(PLP), which had previously only won six seats, won 18 seats.Majority Rule Remembered - ''Nassau Guardian'' - 11 January 2012
/ref> Alvin Braynen, an independent, won 1 seat and Fawkes, leader of the Labour Party (which had fielded four candidates), won one seat. Fawkes and Braynen threw their votes behind the Pindling-led PLP making it the first time that the Bahamas was run by a black government ("majority rule"). Braynen became the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the House of Assembly and Fawkes the Minister of Labour and Commerce.

References

External links

"The Quiet Revolution and the Man who Made it Possible"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fawkes, Randol Members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas 1924 births 2000 deaths Knights Bachelor Government ministers of the Bahamas Labour Party (Bahamas) politicians 20th-century Bahamian lawyers