Electoral System

The 30 members of the House of Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting. There was no fixed election date in effect in Barbados at this time; hence, the choice of election date is the prerogative of the Prime Minister.

Background

Since independence in November 1966, the country's politics have been dominated by two parties: the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).  In the previous elections held in May 2003, the BLP took 23 of the 30 seats at stake, while the remainder went to the DLP led by Clyde Mascoll.  Arthur, who had been Prime Minister since 1994, was subsequently sworn in for his third term in office. 

In January 2006, Mascoll resigned as DLP leader following a row over the party's leadership.  He subsequently joined the BLP and later became Junior Finance Minister.  A no-confidence motion against Mr. Mascoll was blocked on 4 December 2007, and the DLP boycotted parliamentary sessions until the House of Assembly was dissolved on 20 December. 

On 26 November, Deputy Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, announced that a referendum on whether to retain the British Monarch as on the country's Head of State would be held jointly with the parliamentary elections.  The introduction of a republic, replacing the current commonwealth system, has been a long-standing promise in the BLP manifesto.  However, on 2 December, Mottley announced that the government had decided to postpone the referendum due to a number of unspecified concerns.

The Writs for the Election were issued on 20 December 2007 appointing Nomination Day as 31 December 2007 and Election Day as 15 January 2008. Wednesday, 9 January 2008 was appointed the Polling Day for the Foreign Service Electors and Wednesday, 9 January 2008 the Special Polling Day for Election Officers.

There were 235,510 registered electors, 112,162 males and 123,348 females.

Political Parties & Candidates

A total of 69 candidates, including three independents, contested the election and six candidates from minor parties.  Both the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) contested all 30 seats in the Barbados Parliament.

Although two other parties - the Peoples Empowerment Party (PEP) and the People's Democratic Congress (PDC) - were also in the race, opinion polls showed the 2008 elections would be a duel between the BLP and the DLP, led by David Thompson. 

Election Campaign

The DLP had launched its election manifesto as early as June 2007, and appealed particularly to young voters.  It argued that, after 14 years of BLP government, it was "Time for a Change". 

The BLP manifesto included various tax cuts, increased state allowances to the poor and measures to increase home ownership, as well as a health and wellness allowance of 5,000 Barbadian dollars (US$ 2,500) per person.  Prime Minister Arthur pledged to bring the country to "full developed status" by 2025.  The Prime Minister accused Taiwan of financing the DLP campaign, an accusation strongly denied by the DLP leader Thompson. 

Results

The final results gave 20 seats to the DLP, including five first-time members.  The BLP took only 10 seats, losing 13, and nine ministers and junior ministers from the outgoing government were not re-elected.  Three women were elected.

On 16 January 2008, Thompson was sworn in as the country's new Prime Minister.  On 19 January 2008, he named an 18-member cabinet, which was sworn in on 20 January.

On 12 February, the newly-elected House of Assembly held its opening session and elected Michael Carrington (DLP) as its new Speaker.

Voter Turnout

On Election Day, 63.25% of the country's 235,510 registered voters turned out at the polls.

Post-election

On 23 October 2010, Prime Minister David Thompson died in office. Deputy Prime Minister Freundel Stuart was sworn in as the seventh Prime Minister of Barbados.