Elections in Montserrat take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

. The Legislative Assembly is directly elected, and a

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

is selected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Assembly.

Electoral history

Elections were held in

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

in the 19th century, but with a severely limited franchise; in 1837 only 114 of the 7,119 residents of the island were eligible to vote. The partially elected Legislative Assembly dissolved itself in 1866 and was replaced with a wholly appointed body, which remained in place until 1937 when constitutional reforms reintroduced elected members. The reorganised legislature had nine seats; four elected, three held by government officials and two by nominees appointed by the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. The first elections in Montserrat in the 20th century took place in the same year.

Universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

was introduced in 1951, and the 1952 elections were the first in which all adults on the island could vote. They saw the

Montserrat Labour Party The Montserrat Labour Party (MLP) was a political party in Montserrat. History The party was established in 1951, and was linked with the Montserrat Trades and Labour Union. In the Montserratian general election, 1952, 1952 elections, the first h ...

win all five elected seats in the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. The MLP subsequently won elections in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

(when the council was expanded to seven seats) and

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 i ...

. The 1970 elections saw the new Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) win all seven seats. The PDP also won the

1973 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1973. Africa * 1973 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1973 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1973 Ethiopian general election * 1973 Gabonese general election * 1973 Republic of the Congo con ...

, but was defeated in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

when the People's Liberation Movement (PLM) won all seven seats. The PLM went on to win the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and 1987 elections. The 1991 elections were won by the National Progressive Party, which won four of the seven seats. The 1996 elections resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

, with the People's Progressive Alliance (PPA) and

Movement for National Reconstruction The Movement for National Reconstruction (MNR) was a political party in Montserrat led by Bertrand Osborne. History Osborne had previously been leader of the National Development Party, which won a single seat in the 1991 elections. However, b ...

(MNR) holding two seats, the NPP holding one, and the remaining seats taken by two independents. The island's first coalition government was formed by the MNR, NPP and an independent MP. A new electoral system was introduced for the

2001 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2001. Africa * 2001 Beninese presidential election * 2001 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 2001 Cape Verdean presidential election * 2001 Chadian presidential election * 2001 Gabonese legislative ...

as a result of the

volcanic eruptions A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

rendering four of the seven constituencies uninhabitable. The seven single-member constituencies were replaced with one nine-member constituency in which voters could vote for nine candidates. The elections were won by the

New People's Liberation Movement The New People's Liberation Movement was a political party in Montserrat led by John Osborne (Montserrat politician), John Osborne. History The NPLM was established in 2001 by a merger of the People's Progressive Alliance (Montserrat), People's P ...

(NPLM), which took seven of the nine seats. The

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential e ...

resulted in another hung parliament, and although the

Movement for Change and Prosperity The Movement for Change and Prosperity (MCAP) is a political party in Montserrat. History The party was established in 2005 as a successor to the National Progressive Party. In the 2006 elections it received 36.1% of the vote, winning four seats. ...

(MCAP) emerged as the largest party with four seats, the NPLM and the

Montserrat Democratic Party The Montserrat Democratic Party (MDP) was a political party in Montserrat. History The original Montserrat Democratic Party was established in 1958 and led by Eric Kelsick. It was only the second party founded in the country after the Montserr ...

formed a coalition government together with the sole independent MP. Although the NPLM held three seats and the MDP one, MDP leader

Lowell Lewis Lowell Lyttleton Lewis (born August 18, 1952) was a politician, a former Chief Minister of Montserrat. He is the Chief Medical Officer of Montserrat. Chief Minister of Montserrat Lewis first elected in April 2001, took office as Chief Minister on ...

became Chief Minister. The 2009 elections were won by the MCAP, which took six of the nine seats. In 2011 the Legislative Council was abolished and replaced by the Legislative Assembly. In the first elections to the new body in 2014, the MCAP was defeated by the new

People's Democratic Movement The People's Democratic Movement is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded by Paias Wingti in 1985, after his faction left the Pangu Party. Wingti served as prime minister from 1985 to 1988 and from 1992 to 1994. He was later repl ...

, which won seven seats.

Electoral system

The nine members of the Legislative Assembly are elected for five-year terms in a single constituency in which voters can vote for nine candidates.General Election Results - 2 April 2001
Caribbean Elections The island is split into six polling divisions for vote counting.Polling Divisions
Caribbean Elections

References

External links

Election Commission
{{Montserrat topics