History
The DLP was founded in 1955 by Errol Barrow, James Cameron Tudor, Frederick "Sleepy" Smith and 26 others. Once members of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), these 26 broke away to form this more left-leaning alternative. However, as a result of this common origin, the two parties have been and remain ideologically similar. In the 1956 general elections the party received 19.9% of the vote and won four seats. In the next elections in 1961 it received fewer votes than the BLP, but won a majority of the seats in Parliament, with Barrow becoming Premier.
After the party retained power in the 1966 elections (this time with a plurality of the vote), Barrow became the country's first Prime Minister. The party won a third successive election in 1971, but lost power to the BLP in 1976. They remained in opposition until victory in the 1986 elections, in which they won 24 of the 27 seats. They remained in power following the 1991 elections, but were defeated by the BLP in the 1994 elections. They returned to power again in 2008.
Read more about this topic: Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“... all big changes in human history have been arrived at slowly and through many compromises.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“In all history no class has been enfranchised without some selfish motive underlying. If to-day we could prove to Republicans or Democrats that every woman would vote for their party, we should be enfranchised.”
—Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947)