Barbados General Election Results 1956

Updated:

Barbados General Election Results - 6 December 1956

General elections were held in Barbados on 6 December 1956. Elections were held to renew all 24 members of the House of Assembly on the normal expiration of their mandate, using a first-past-the-post system.

Electoral System

The 24 members of the House of Assembly were elected in 12 double-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.

Background

The House of Assembly was, from 1956, elected for five years. The 1951-1954 House was extended during its tenure to five years.

There were 103,290 registered electors, 42,985 males and 60,304 females.

Political Parties & Candidates

Four parties contested the 1956 General Election. The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), led by Grantley Adams; the Democratic Party (DLP), led by Errol Barrow, the Progressive Conservative Party (PCP), and the People's Progressive Movement (PPM).

There were 63 candidates contesting the election: BLP - 19, DLP - 16, PCP - 13, PPM - 4, and 11 independent candidates.

Results

The Barbados Labour Party was returned to office with 15 of the 24 seats. The Democratic Labour Party won four seats and the Conservatives three seats. Frank Walcott and Mencea Cox were elected as Independent Members.

Grantley Adams was sworn in for a second term as Premier of Barbados.

Voter Turnout

Voter turnout was 60.3%.

Post-election

In 1958, Adams resigned as Premier to take up office as Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation. On 17 April 1958, Hugh Gordon Cummins was sworn in as the Second Premier of Barbados. Cabinet Government began in Barbados.

Barbados attained full internal self-government in 1961.

ELECTORAL SYSTEM

System	First-past-the-post

Elected Members	12 double-member constituencies

VOTER TURNOUT

Total Valid Votes

61,553

Invalid Votes

721

Total Votes Cast

62,274

Registered Voters

103,290

Voter Turnout

60.29%

CRITICAL DATES

Dissolution of House	-

Nomination Day	-

Polling Day	Thu, 6 Dec 1956

First Meeting of Parliament	-

POLITICAL LEADERS

		Grantley Herbert ADAMS Barbados Labour Party (BLP)

		Errol Walton BARROW Democratic Labour Party (DLP)

BY THE NUMBERS

BLP
	19 candidates
	15 seats
	48.667 votes (49.4%)

DLP
	16 candidates
	4 seats
	19,650 votes (19.9%)

PCP

Progressive Conservative Party

13 candidates

3 seats

2,060
votes (21.4%)

OTHERS

Minor
Parties & Independent Candidates

15
candidates

2 seats

9,247
votes (9.4%)

SEATS

13 seats for a majority

BLP

15 seats (-)

3 (+3)

PCP

IND

4 seats (+4)

DLP

SUMMARY RESULTS

Party	Code	Votes			Candidates	Seats
Party	Code	Total	% votes	Change	Candidates	Number	Change
Barbados Labour Party	BLP	48,667	49.35%	-5.1%	19	15	-

Democratic Labour Party	DLP	19,650	19.92%	+19.9%	16	4	+4

Progressive Conservative Party	PCP	21,060	21.35%	+21.4%	13	3	+3

People's Progressive Movement	PPM	1,695	1.72%	+1.7%	4	0	-

Independent Candidates	IND	7,552	7.66%	-2.8%	11	2	-1
Total Valid Votes		98,624	100%	35%	63	24	+6

ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

Constituency	Representative	Party
City of Bridgetown	MOTTLEY, Ernest Deighton	Progressive Conservative Party
City of Bridgetown	MILLER, T.W.	Barbados Labour Party

St. Michael	COX, Mencea E.	Barbados Labour Party
St. Michael	BRYAN, T.O.	Barbados Labour Party

Christ Church	TALMA, Cuthbert Edwy	Independent
Christ Church	GODDARD, Fred C.	Progressive Conservative Party

St. Philip	CRAWFORD, Wynter Algernon	Democratic Labour Party
St. Philip	GARNER, D. DaC.	Barbados Labour Party

St. George	DOWDLING, Herbert A.	Progressive Conservative Party
St. George	MILLER, Frederick Edward	Barbados Labour Party

St. John	THORNE, L. St. A.	Barbados Labour Party
St. John	VAUGHAN, Victor B.	Barbados Labour Party

St. Joseph	ADAMS, Grantley Herbert	Barbados Labour Party
St. Joseph	SMITH, Lloyd E.	Barbados Labour Party

St. James	HOLDER, Ellesworth St. Aubyn	Barbados Labour Party
St. James	SEARLES, C.B.	Barbados Labour Party

St. Andrew	BOURNE, Edna Ermyntrude	Barbados Labour Party
St. Andrew	SMITH, Frederick Gladstone	Democratic Labour Party

St. Lucy	TUDOR, James Cameron	Democratic Labour Party
St. Lucy	BRANCKER, John Eustace Theodore	Democratic Labour Party

St. Peter	WALCOTT, Frank Leslie	Independent
St. Peter	HUSBANDS, Kenmore Nathaniel Rhystone	Barbados Labour Party

St. Thomas	MAPP, Ronald Grenville	Barbados Labour Party
St. Thomas	CUMMINS, Hugh Gordon	Barbados Labour Party

SUMMARY BY CONSTITUENCY, CANDIDATE, AND PARTY

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes	%Votes
City of Bridgetown	E.D. MOTTLEY	PCP	2,732	54.68%
	T.W. MILLER	BLP	1,455	29.12%
	A.E.S. Lewis	DLP	711	14.23%
	J.E. Brome	IND	98	1.96%

St. Michael	M.E. COX	BLP	8,857	33.36%
	T.O. BRYAN	BLP	7,648	28.81%
	E.C. Hewitt	PCP	5,071	19.10%
	C.H. Broome	DLP	3,158	11.90%
	J.A. Tudor	DLP	1,387	5.22%
	K.K. King	IND	425	1.60%

Christ Church	C.E. TALMA	IND	4,151	38.30%
	F.C. GODDARD	PCP	3,632	33.51%
	C.B. Jones	BLP	1,890	17.44%
	D.P. Lynch	DLP	1,071	9.88%
	R. Eversley	IND	93	0.86%

St. Philip	W.A. CRAWFORD	DLP	2,567	28.27%
	D.DAC. GARNER	BLP	2,405	26.48%
	H.L. Smith	PCP	2,100	23.13%
	C. Fields	DLP	2,009	22.12%

St. George	H.A. DOWDLING	PCP	3,069	31.00%
	F.E. MILLER	BLP	2,760	27.88%
	H.F.G. Rocheford	BLP	2,252	22.75%
	E.W. Barrow	DLP	1,700	17.17%
	Grafton Clarke	IND	119	1.20%

St. John	L.ST.A. THORNE	BLP	1,332	23.35%
	V.B. VAUGHAN	BLP	1,275	22.35%
	C.A. Speede	DLP	977	17.13%
	O.T. Allder	PPM	965	16.92%
	J.S.B. Dear	PCP	608	10.66%
	E.McG. Webster	IND	193	3.38%
	S. Linton	PPM	140	2.45%
	G.W. Maynard	IND	94	1.65%
	J.A.LeV. Wilson	IND	66	1.16%
	A.H.A. Lewis	DLP	54	0.95%

St. Joseph	G.H. ADAMS	BLP	2,166	43.79%
	L.E. SMITH	BLP	2,046	41.37%
	J.N. Kellman	DLP	388	7.84%
	L.L. Gill	PCP	346	7.00%

St. James	E.ST.A. HOLDER	BLP	2,820	36.59%
	C.B. SEARLES	BLP	2,449	31.78%
	E.L. Carmichael	PCP	1,328	17.23%
	A.G. Johnson	DLP	593	7.70%
	George B. Niles	PCP	516	6.70%

St. Andrew	MRS. E.E. BOURNE	BLP	1,320	41.29%
	G.G. SMITH	DLP	1,140	35.66%
	J.A. Haynes	PCP	737	23.05%

St. Lucy	J.C. TUDOR	DLP	1,533	31.24%
	J.E.T. BRANKER	DLP	1,470	29.96%
	H.C. Rock	BLP	1,029	20.97%
	L.B. Brathwaite	PPM	480	9.78%
	A.C. Kirton	PCP	395	8.05%

St. Peter	F.L. WALCOTT	IND	1,718	32.32%
	K.N. HUSBANDS	BLP	1,631	30.69%
	B.F.L. Morris	BLP	1,141	21.47%
	T.S. Chandler	DLP	825	15.52%

St. Thomas	R.G. MAPP	BLP	2,215	40.35%
	H.G.S. CUMMINS	BLP	1,976	36.00%
	C.A. Gill	IND	475	8.65%
	W.D. Rudder	PCP	262	4.77%
	W.W. Reece	PCP	264	4.81%
	D.F. Blackett	IND	120	2.19%
	G.V. Batson	PPM	110	2.00%
	G.C. Pilgrim	DLP	67	1.22%

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BY-ELECTIONS

St. Lucy By-election 1954

St. Joseph By-election 1958

St. John By-election 1958

City of Bridgetown By-election 1969

St. Joseph By-election 1970

St. Philip North By-election 1976

City of Bridgetown By-election 1976

St. Michael South Central By-election 1978

St. Peter By-election 1984

St. Thomas By-election 1985

St. John By-election 1987

St. Michael North West By-election 1996

St. Thomas By-election 2001

St. John By-election 2011

POLITICAL PARTIES

Bajan Free Party

Barbados Integrity Movement

Barbados Labour Party

Democratic Labour Party

Kingdom Government of Barbados

People's Democratic Congress

Solutions Barbados

United Progressive Party

PARTY MANIFESTOS

BLP 2018 Manifesto

DLP 2018 Manifesto

ABOUT CARIBBEAN ELECTIONS

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SUMMARY BY CONSTITUENCY AND PARTY

Constituency	Registered	BLP	DLP	PCP	PPM	IND	Total Valid	Valid Ballots	Invalid Votes	Total Votes	Turnout
City of Bridgetown	5,641	1,455	711	2,732	-	98	4,996	3,839	29	3,868	68.57%

St. Michael	34,618	16,505	4,545	5,071	-	425	26,546	15,878	137	16,015	46.26%

Christ Church	15,013	1,890	1,071	3,632	-	4,244	10,837	8,566	96	8,662	57.70%

St. Philip	7,475	2,405	4,576	2,100	-	-	9,081	6,018	81	6,099	81.59%

St. George	8,117	5,012	1,700	3,069	-	119	9,900	5,360	151	5,511	67.89%

St. John	5,155	2,607	1,031	608	1,105	353	5,704	3,571	34	3,605	69.93%

St. Joseph	3,808	4,212	388	346	-	-	4,946	2,664	29	2,693	70.72%

St. James	6,460	5,269	593	1,844	-	-	7,706	4,181	31	4,212	65.20%

St. Andrew	3,479	1,320	1,140	737	-	-	3,197	2,925	31	2,956	84.97%

St. Lucy	4,185	1,029	3,003	395	480	-	4,907	2,376	27	2,403	57.42%

St. Peter	4,685	2,772	825	-	-	1,718	5,315	3,287	52	3,339	71.27%

St. Thomas	4,654	4,191	67	526	110	595	5,489	2,888	23	2,911	62.55%
Total	103,290	48,667	19,650	21,060	1,695	7,552	98,624	61,553	721	62,274	60.29%

Key

Bajan Free Party	NDP = National Democratic Party	United Progressive Party
Barbados Integrity Movement	People's Democratic Congress	WPB = Workers Party of Barbados
Barbados Labour Party	PEP = People's Empowerment Party	Independent Candidate
Democratic Labour Party	PPA = People's Political Alliance	*incumbent
Kingdom Government of Barbados	Solutions Barbados	** Political Leader

Sources

Barbados Electoral and Boundaries Commission

Bajan Free Party (2018). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/Bajan-Free-Party-BFP-HonAlex-MitchellEl-1767331239973521/

Barbados Integrity Movement (2018). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/barbdaosintegritymovement/?ref=py_c

Barbados Labour Party. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.blp.org.bb/

Coalition of United Party. (2018) Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/alexmitchell.el/

Democratic Labour Party. (2018). Retrieved from http://dlpbarbados.org/site/

Solutions Barbados. (2018). Retrieved from https://solutionsbarbados.com/

United Progressive Party. (2018). Retrieved from https://uppbarbados.org/

Inter-Parliamentary Union. (2018). Barbados. Retrieved from http://archive.ipu.org/parline/reports/2025_E.htm

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