The British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party, also known as the Butler Home Rule Party and more commonly as the Butler Party, Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p628 were a series of

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

organised by Tubal Uriah Butler.

History

Butler founded the party in 1936 after he split from the Trinidad Labour Party. However, he spent most of the period between 1937 and 1945 in prison; he was arrested after the labour riots of 1937 and imprisoned until 1939. After being released, he was re-arrested in at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1939 because he was seen as a security threat to one of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

's main supplies of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

. After he was released from prison at the end of the war, Butler reformed the party to fight the 1946 general elections. It finished second in the vote, winning three seats.Nohlen, pp639-642 In the 1950 elections it emerged as the largest party after the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

did not run. However, although it won six of the eighteen seats, the government was formed by

Albert Gomes Albert Maria Gomes (25 March 1911 – 13 January 1978) was a Trinidadian unionist, politician, and writer of Portuguese descent, was the first Chief Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was the founder of the Political Progress Groups and later l ...

of the Party of Political Progress Groups. In the 1956 elections the party was reduced to two seats. The 1961 elections saw its share of the vote drop to just 0.4% and it lost both seats. In

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

it received just 704 votes, after which it never contested another election.Nohlen, p637

References

{{Trinidad and Tobago political parties Defunct political parties in Trinidad and Tobago Political parties established in 1936