The United Democratic Party (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Partido Democrático Unido'';

abbreviated An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

UDP) is one of the two major political parties in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. It is currently the main opposition party, having lost the

2025 Belizean general election General elections were held in Belize on 12 March 2025 to elect the 31 members of the House of Representatives (Belize), House of Representatives. The incumbent government under the People's United Party (PUP) won a second term in office against ...

, after previously holding the government across three prior terms. Founded as a centre-right conservative party, the UDP is led by Interim Leader

Hugo Patt Hugo Patt is a politician from Belize from United Democratic Party (Belize), United Democratic Party. He served as the deputy prime minister of Belize and the acting prime minister of Belize from 6 July 2019 to 9 July 2019 and serving as House of ...

, though his position is contested by Tracy Taegar-Panton, who is already sworn in as

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

History

Foundation and early history

In 1973, political opposition in Belize was weak and the ruling

People's United Party The People's United Party (, PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2025 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean Hou ...

(PUP) had never lost a legislative election since its foundation. The main opposition parties, the National Independence Party and the People's Development Movement met together with a new Liberal Party to consider forming an alliance to fight the PUP. The resulting merger formed the United Democratic Party on 27 September 1973. Controversially, a significant portion of the

United Black Association for Development United Black Association for Development (UBAD) was a cultural and political party established in Belize in February 1969 and based on traditional Black Power tenets. Background The nation of Belize (or, as it was then called, British Hondura ...

also voted to join the UDP upon foundation. Hyde, Evan X
"From The Publisher"
''

Amandala ''Amandala'' is a Belizean tabloid newspaper. Published twice weekly, it is Belize's largest newspaper. ''Amandala'' was established in 1969 as the print organ of the now-defunct United Black Association for Development (UBAD), but has been poli ...

'', 24 October 2008. (accessed 10 May 2015) The UDP's first electoral test was the 1974 general election in which it fielded candidates nationwide except in

Corozal District Corozal is the northernmost Districts of Belize, district of the nation of Belize. The population was 46,071 in 2024. The district capital is Corozal Town. Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Maya ruins are found in Corozal at Santa Rita ruins, Sa ...

, where it supported candidates from the

Corozal United Front The Corozal United Front (CUF) was a short-lived political party active in Corozal District, Belize, in the 1970s. Shortly after its founding the party won a municipal election in Corozal Town, defeating the established People's United Party T ...

. It won six seats, and was within 18 votes of winning three more. Former People's Development Movement head

Dean Lindo Dean Russel Lindo (4 September 1932 – 17 September 2018) was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.1979 general elections. Its representation in the House of Representatives dropped to five seats and party leader Lindo lost his seat to

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the third prime minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the ...

and was replaced as leader by

Theodore Aranda Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Aranda (1934 – July 2022) was a Belizean politician and Garifuna activist. Education and UDP career Aranda held an M.A. (1967) and a Ph.D. (1971) in Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He ...

. Despite internal divisions, the party retained control of three towns in the December 1981 municipal elections.

1983–present

In late 1982, Aranda was removed as party leader and replaced by

Curl Thompson Curl Osmond Thompson was a Belizean politician. Thompson served as an Area Representative in the Belize House of Representatives and as the deputy prime minister. He was also interim leader of the United Democratic Party for a brief period in t ...

, who would later be replaced by former Liberal Party leader

Manuel Esquivel Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as the second prime minister of Belize from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party' ...

following a convention. In December 1983, the UDP won

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize. It was once the capital city, capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2022 census, Belize City has a population of 63,999 people. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, which is a ...

Council election. The party was victorious in the 1984 general election, winning 21 of the 28 seats.Nohlen, p106 Esquivel became the first UDP member elected Prime Minister. The party went on to lost power in the

1989 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1989. Africa * 1989 Beninese parliamentary election * 1989 Botswana general election * 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election * 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * 1989 ...

, winning 13 seats to the PUP's 15. For the 1993 elections the party formed an alliance with the National Alliance for Belizean Rights. The alliance won 16 of the 29 seats, with the UDP taking fifteen. However, they were soundly defeated in the

1998 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1998. Africa * 1998 Burkinabé presidential election * 1998 Central African parliamentary election * 1998 Gabonese presidential election * 1998 Guinean presidential election * 1998 Lesotho general elect ...

as the PUP won 26 of the 29 seats, after which Esquivel was replaced by Barrow as party leader. The PUP remained in power following the 2003 elections, in which the UDP only won seven seats. After ten years in opposition, the UDP won the 2008 general elections, taking 25 of the 31 seats. In 2020, UDP Prime Minister

Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as the fourth prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served a ...

called for elections to take place in November 2020. This was during the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

which had hit the country's economy hard. The pandemic, along with impacts of

Hurricane Eta Hurricane Eta was a deadly and erratic tropical cyclone that devastated parts of Central America in early November 2020. The record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, thirteenth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 A ...

, caused significant voter discontent with the current government. Ultimately, the UDP suffered one of the worst results in the party's history, winning only 5 of the 31 seats. In the

, the party maintained the same number of seats.

List of leaders

Dean Lindo Dean Russel Lindo (4 September 1932 – 17 September 2018) was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.Theodore Aranda Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Aranda (1934 – July 2022) was a Belizean politician and Garifuna activist. Education and UDP career Aranda held an M.A. (1967) and a Ph.D. (1971) in Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He ...

(1979–1982) *

(1982–1983) *

(1983–1998) *

(1998–2020) *

John Saldivar John Saldivar is a Mexican-American fashion designer originally from Monterrey, Mexico. Collection John Saldivar began his fashion career in 2001 while apprenticing with Oscar de la Renta and his design team. Through de la Renta, Saldivar met A ...

(2020) * Patrick Faber (2020–2022) * Moses Barrow (2022–2025) *

(since 2025, as Interim Leader; contested) **

Tracy Panton Tracy Taegar Panton is a Belizean politician. A member of the United Democratic Party, she has represented the Albert constituency in the Belize House of Representatives since 2015. Her father, Dr Leroy Taegar, was a council candidate for the ...

(since 2025,

)

Election results

House of Representatives elections

References

External links

Official website

''The Guardian''
Party newspaper {{Authority control Political parties in Belize Political parties established in 1973 1973 establishments in Belize Conservative parties in North America