General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 23 March 2004. The result was a victory for the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), which defeated the incumbent

Antigua Labour Party The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. The current leader of the party is Gaston Browne, who serves as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The party had previously been led by Lester Bird ...

. Baldwin Spencer, leader of the UPP, replaced

Lester Bird Sir Lester Bryant Bird KNH (21 February 1938 – 9 August 2021) was an Antigua and Barbuda politician and athlete who served as the second prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 to 2004. He was chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (AL ...

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of government of the country. The current prime minister is Gaston Browne, since 13 June 2014.Jacqueline Charles"Browne becomes new prime minister of Antigua, youngest ever" ''The Miami He ...

, with Bird being one of eight Labour MPs to lose his seat. Spencer became only the second Prime Minister from outside the Bird family or the Labour Party. Bird had been Prime Minister since 1994, when he succeeded his father,

Vere Bird Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH (9 December 1910 – 28 June 1999) was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as Prime Minister. In 1994 he was declared a national hero. He was an officer in ...

, who had been Prime Minister from independence in 1981, having previously served as Chief Minister or Premier of Antigua since 1960 with the exception of the 1971–1976 period.

Campaign

The Bird family was widely accused of corruption and nepotism. The ''Jamaica Observer'' noted that "Bird's government had been badly damaged by scandals that in recent years have centred on allegations of bribery, misuse of funds in the national health insurance plan, and a 13-year-old girl's charges that he and his brother used her for sex and to procure cocaine. Bird, 72, denied the last charges and organised an inquiry that found no evidence." Bird's brother,

Vere Bird, Jr. Vere Bird Jr. (October 1936 – 31 March 2013) was an Antiguan lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and a government minister. He was the son of Vere Bird, the former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbu ...

, was accused of involvement with the Medellin drug cartel in 1989. He lost his Cabinet post, but was not prosecuted.

Conduct

An observer team from the

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econo ...

praised the peaceful vote and said the results "clearly reflect the will of the people". Among recommendations, it urged the Electoral Commission to strengthen its independence. Previous elections in Antigua and Barbuda had been followed by allegations of electoral irregularities favouring the government.

Results

The vote in the seat of

Barbuda Barbuda (), is an island located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the sovereign state of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located north of the island of Antigua and is part of the Leeward Islands of the West Indies. The island is a popula ...

ended in a draw between the

Barbuda People's Movement The Barbuda People's Movement is a centre-left Barbudan nationalist political party in Antigua and Barbuda. History The party first contested a general election in 1989, in which they won a single seat.Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americ ...

, an ally of the UPP, and the

Barbuda People's Movement for Change The Barbuda People's Movement for Change is a political party in Barbuda, part of Antigua and Barbuda. At their last elections, 23 March 2004, the party contested the sole seat allotted to Barbuda (in total there are 17 seats in the parliament) ...

, an ally of the ALP, with each candidate receiving 400 votes. A by-election was held on 20 April, which saw

Trevor Walker Trevor Myke Walker is a Barbudan politician and former Cabinet Minister under the Baldwin Spencer administration. Early life Walker was educated at the Holy Trinity School in Barbuda, that was destroyed in the 2017 Hurricane Irma, but reope ...

of the BPM elected, with 408 votes against 394 for the BPMC candidate,

Arthur Nibbs Arthur Nibbs is a politician from Antigua and Barbuda. He represents the Antigua Labour Party in the Antiguan Senate. Born in Barbuda, he was educated at the Holy Trinity School and the Antigua Grammar School. Political career He first stood, u ...

.Antigua and Barbuda: 2004 election results
Caribbean Elections

References

{{Antigua and Barbuda elections Elections in Antigua and Barbuda Antigua General election March 2004 events in North America